That should be perfect. Fermentation will probably put you at 50-52 with that ambient. Maybe a little higher so I’d keep an eye on it.
The marzen I brewed Wednesday jumped from 50 to 55 overnight last night because I forgot to put more frozen bottles in the swamp cooler before bed. When it gets really windy here my basement ends up being the warmest place in the house. Got it back to 52 this morning.
Wish I had a cold cellar like yours for fermenting!
I’m thinking of throwing a marzen on top of this yeast. If this lagering works out I think next year I will try a series of three. Maybe a maibock ,marzen, bock. I’ll have to start a little earlier though.
Good plan. Once you get a good lager yeast going, it’s almost a shame to not repitch it. That is in my opinion the #1 thing to be successful with lager: a healthy yeast pitch. I brewed two batches today, and pitched harvested yeast into both (two different lager strains).
FWIW, it’s always a good idea if the yeast is the same temp or colder than the wort.
I pitch my ale yeast at wort temp. I didn’t know about ale yeast. Got some airlock activity in under 24 hrs anyway. I hope they weren’t to stressed about it. Next question. Can I rack to a keg after two weeks for the d-rest before I start the lagering? I want the yeast for my next batch is why. I want to get another batch in before sugaring season.
You want the beer still on the primary yeast for the d rest. It’s the yeast that cleans up the diacetyl. It might be ready in 2 weeks and it might not. Let the beer decide, not the calendar. Or you may not even need a d rest…my lagers seldom do.
Just an update. The maibock fermented very nicely at 51deg for two weeks. It slowed down so I brought if upstairs for a 61deg rest. I was going to brew today but it started bubbling again so let it go. Tomorrow I will take a gravity. I can’t brew untill Tuesday today is Sunday. I’m wondering if I should bring it back down or just leave it at 60deg
The time for the d-rest (or as I think of it: warming to push the yeast to finish strong) doesn’t matter that much. 3 days or a week is fine. But you will afterwards need to chill it to lager for some weeks so it will really smooth out. The time required for lagering is temperature dependent, with it taking longer at lower temperatures but it is suppose to make a smoother product that way. 4-8 weeks is usually the time quoted for this, but you can taste it periodically to see when you think it is ready.
Slight problem. Checked the gravity and it was only .019 I calculated .012. It’s sitting at 62deg right now. I’m brewing tomorrow and need the yeast. Can I just rack to a keg and leave it un carbed at basement temp about 50deg to let it finish. Or rack to another fermenter?
I had the same problem last month. I racked, and the beer had problems finishing - it is VERY slowly moving towards FG, but I doubt it will make it all the way. Should have left it longer and delayed my next brewday.
If you take it off the yeast it’s going to have a hard time finishing. I’ve noticed that this yeast takes some time to finish up the last few points and keeping it in the high 50’s to low 60’s should do the trick. If you want this to finish lower I would suggest postponing your brew day.
That’s what I’m thinking. I was going to rack to another fermenter and rack over some yeast with it. Add a little nutrient and leave it a 60 a little longer. I was hoping to get that pilsner going
You need to pitch healthy proper amounts of yeast. I will show you my log of a Bock I just made with an og of 1.065 Fg 1.013(830 yeast). Brewed on Feb 8th, as of right now it is on tap and drinking. Lagers don’t need to take much longer than ales. If you look at the graph, ferment temp was 52f, and by day 4 the beer was ready for the D-rest(you can see the fridge settings start to get closer to ferment temp).
Bryan
[quote=“rabeb25”]You need to pitch healthy proper amounts of yeast. I will show you my log of a Bock I just made with an og of 1.065 Fg 1.013(830 yeast). Brewed on Feb 8th, as of right now it is on tap and drinking. Lagers don’t need to take much longer than ales. If you look at the graph, ferment temp was 52f, and by day 4 the beer was ready for the D-rest(you can see the fridge settings start to get closer to ferment temp).
Bryan[/quote]
I’m not sure how you can tell by the graph that the beer was ready for a D-rest after 4 days? Are you implying that gravity can be assumed by thermal activity?
I sample daily as well, however yes it follows the thermal activity pretty near spot on.
That’s interesting. It makes sense but never really had any sort of way to correlate the two. What type of tool are you using to record all this info?
Brewpi, I have ran it for quite some time now and LOVE it.
If you go here : http://taplist.noip.me/ and click on the top right you can see a 1.065 rye ipa ferment. It is in the crash cool stage. 3 day ferment at 64, 3 day dry hop at 68, then 5 day crash cool.
It’s done. Racked to the keg at .018. Racked the pilsner onto the cake with a teaspoon of nutrient. The maibock is at 34deg in the garage. Where if will stay untill I move it to the reefer for carbonation. I have my fingers crossed it’s not to sweet.
My maibock has been lagering for two weeks un carbed. I didn’t put any gelatin in. Do you think it’s to late to add it now?
Nope you can still use it. i have received my best results by:
Let it sit in 1 cup water for an hour to bloom
Put cup in microwave and heat it enough to dissolve. DO NOT BOIL.
Add it to keg and slightly swirl it
Slow carb and you’ll have clear beer
