28 replies to this topic

[Poptop]

[font="calibri;"]Gents, after seeing chil’s recent post in the recipe swap, I am anxious to make a Dunkel.  I’ve fermented many ales using a swamp cooler and feel pretty confident about fermenting in the very low 60’s maybe even high 50’s.  That said, and once primary fermentation has run its course, do you think I could rack to a corny and let the beer lager in my keezer along side of the beer I’m currently pouring? If this were possible, would I have to put some type of air lock on the corny?  Would I be able to carbonate during the lager phase?[/font]

 

[font="calibri;"]If this were a long shot, what do you think a German ale yeast would offer to typical Dunkel ingredients?[/font]

 

 

[Big Nake]

You can lager anywhere (secondary, bottles, keg) and you can lager flat or carbed. If it's in the keg and there is sufficient pressure in the keg to keep the hatch secure, you would not need to consider an airlock. I can't even envision a keg with an airlock or the need for one. The temp would be okay but in LagerWorld, storing the beer cold (close to 35° is common) is better. If you could ferment the lager in the high 50s, I think you would be okay. High 60s is a stretch but I think 2124 will go higher and there's always 2112 where 58° is the low end and it's clean. I have a recipe for a dunkel in my queue and it's probably 3 or 4 beers away at the moment. Cheers Brother.

[Poptop]

Thanks Ken.  I'd love to see your recipe.  Like good pron, I can't stop peeking in on chil's Dunkel pic  It looks so delicious.

[Steve Urquell]

Thanks Ken.  I'd love to see your recipe.  Like good pron, I can't stop peeking in on chil's Dunkel pic  It looks so delicious.

My beer just blushed.

 

I'll throw W34/70 in there as a good, warm fermenting lager yeast. I fermented a couple of NB 1554 clones awhile back. One fermented at 62F and was too clean. The next one was allowed to rise to 68F and had minimal esters--still cleaner than ale yeast.

 

My SOP for lagers is ferment until krausen falls, let rise to 60F for D-rest a couple days, IF it Tastes OK then-> drop temp 5F/day until 32F reached, rack to secondary for ~5 days with gel to clear at 32F, then to keg and carbing while lagering.

 

You could just add gel to keg and rack after primary and start lagering as long as it tastes good.

[Big Nake]

There was some talk HERE. Some recipes were bounced around there but more online homework brought me to a simple recipe and I'm all about the simple recipes.Munich Dunkel9.50 lbs Best Malz Munich 10L2 ounces German Carafa Special6 AAU of a mix of Tettnanger and Magnum for 60 minutesWyeast 2278 Czech LagerOG: 1.053, FG: 1.013, IBU: 26, SRM: 16, ABV: 5.2%That's 99% Munich 10 and 1% Carafa Special (okay, technically 98.7% and 1.3%). Also, I am only using 2278 because it's going to be my next lager yeast and I think it will be tasty with that yeast. The color will come from the Carafa Special but 9.5 lbs of Munich 10 will make a deep-colored base for the Carafa. I can't remember exactly where I got this one but I liked the simplicity of it and Brauer mentioned that he liked his version made with a large percentage of Munich 10.EDIT: Not sure on the mash temp here. With all of that Munich 10, I might consider mashing lower like 150°. I would also possibly use 100% tap water (a personal thing, YMMV) without any dilutions and use a 'balanced' profile or possibly make it lean slightly towards malty.

Edited by KenLenard, 03 March 2014 - 09:29 AM.

[denny]

As to yeast, I've made my best pseudolagers with 1007, followed by 1056.  I just don't care for the character of 2112 for a lager....You can easily run 1007 down to the low 50s if you want to and 1056 in the upper 50s.

[Poptop]

Great information fellas, thank you.

[Big Nake]

As to yeast, I've made my best pseudolagers with 1007, followed by 1056.  I just don't care for the character of 2112 for a lager....You can easily run 1007 down to the low 50s if you want to and 1056 in the upper 50s.

True, true... I have used a good-sized, healthy blob of 1056 around 60° (and possibly slightly lower) for beers I wanted to be clean and lager-like... blonde ale, cream ale, American wheat, etc. and it performs nicely. Also, 1007 can be a little pesky with its low-floccing but it will eventually drop out as long as you do everything else properly and the character it brings to the beer is great.

[johnpreuss]

I'm going to brew my first lager this week with W34/70 - I'm going to rely on a modified swamp cooler (I made a collar out of pink foam insulation so the lid could close - otherwise it would hit on the air lock.) to keep me at lager fermentation temps.

[Big Nake]

I'm going to brew my first lager this week with W34/70

Sure, sure. We believe you.

[johnpreuss]

Hey I posted the Yeast in chili's thread.  It's gonna happen!  The forcast is a BALMY 29 for Thursday and I'm off work.

[Big Nake]

Hey I posted the Yeast in chili's thread.  It's gonna happen!  The forcast is a BALMY 29 for Thursday and I'm off work.

29°, no work and you're armed with lager yeast. Hey, I'm beginning to take you seriously! My guess is that you will make some lagers with 34/70 (which I believe is the dry equivalent of WLP830... a GREAT yeast) and really like the character you're getting and a small 4.3cf fridge will follow so you can ferment lagers year-round. I just checked my 2013 brewing notes and it turns out that 56% of my batches last year were lagers. Careful... it could happen to you!

[johnpreuss]

29°, no work and you're armed with lager yeast. Hey, I'm beginning to take you seriously! My guess is that you will make some lagers with 34/70 (which I believe is the dry equivalent of WLP830... a GREAT yeast) and really like the character you're getting and a small 4.3cf fridge will follow so you can ferment lagers year-round. I just checked my 2013 brewing notes and it turns out that 56% of my batches last year were lagers. Careful... it could happen to you!

 

Ken I have no doubts where this "Gateway" yeast is going to lead me.  Pislners! Dunkels! Festbiers! OH MY!  Actually I see beers such as Two Women and your mexican lagers being brewed most but lets focus on getting through the 1st one! 

[Steve Urquell]

Ken I have no doubts where this "Gateway" yeast is going to lead me.  Pislners! Dunkels! Festbiers! OH MY!  Actually I see beers such as Two Women and your mexican lagers being brewed most but lets focus on getting through the 1st one! 

JP, the gateway for me is the yeast harvest. When I start a strain, I always plan on at least 7 batches using the harvested yeast.

 

My epiphany on harvesting was when I started racking off the sediment the day after brewing before pitching. I chill as far as my chiller goes but have to allow it to get to lager pitching temps overnight. The result is almost pure yeast with no wash necessary.

 

This pic is 1/2 of the harvest of MJ M-84 lager yeast from a series I brewed. No wash--straight from the bottom of the fermenter.

 

[johnpreuss]

That is a thing of beauty.

[johnpreuss]

OH KEN LENARD!  You were betting against me like someone would bet against the Brewers to beat the Cards... But that Lager is chilling... Only 5 more degrees and I'll pitch that bad boy!!!

 

 

I was wrong, it just hit 46dF lets get this in the fermenter

[Big Nake]

OH KEN LENARD!  You were betting against me like someone would bet against the Brewers to beat the Cards... But that Lager is chilling... Only 5 more degrees and I'll pitch that bad boy!!!   I was wrong, it just hit 46dF lets get this in the fermenter

So congratulations is in order. Very nicely done. I just went back and looked at all of your posts in here but I don't know what the style was. We talked Dunkel but that was earlier... so what did you make?

[johnpreuss]

So congratulations is in order. Very nicely done. I just went back and looked at all of your posts in here but I don't know what the style was. We talked Dunkel but that was earlier... so what did you make?

 

It was a Boston Lagerish Beer.  I'll post in a separate thread later.  If nothing else it was an adventure of a day. 

Edited by johnpreuss, 06 March 2014 - 04:03 PM.

[Big Nake]

It was a Boston Lagerish Beer.  I'll post in a separate thread.  If nothing else it was an adventure of a day.

Nice. I have one coming up too. I can't see how it would not turn out well. Keep it cool and keep it consistent and it will be great. Last weekend I transferred three beers to kegs... MLPA, an amber lager made with 830 and a Blonde Ale. All of these beers looked and smelled great but the aroma of the amber lager just jumped out at me during the transfer. I swear my mouth was watering because the beer smelled so great. There's something about that nice lager character that gets me excited for some beer! Cheers and congrats.

[neddles]

I picked up a few yeasts today. Among them WY1272, WY1469, WLP011, WLP670, and….. wait for it….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WY2308.  I'm gonna finally make one.