30 replies to this topic

[positiveContact]

so on my current munich dunkel I'm doing my expedited lager fermentation schedule.

 

started at 47-48F.  over the first 3 days I slowly let the temp rise to 50-52F.  then on about day 4 I used a space heater to get it up to 54F, day 4/5 was 55.5F, by the end of day 6 I was up to about 61/62F.  I now plan to leave it here for a few days before bringing the temp back down to drop the yeast out for racking to keg.

 

eta:  this is with white labs 833.

Edited by Evil_Morty, 21 March 2015 - 08:08 AM.

[Brauer]

so on my current munich dunkel I'm doing my expedited lager fermentation schedule.

 

started at 47-48F.  over the first 3 days I slowly let the temp rise to 50-52F.  then on about day 4 I used a space heater to get it up to 54F, day 4/5 was 55.5F, by the end of day 6 I was up to about 61/62F.  I now plan to leave it here for a few days before bringing the temp back down to drop the yeast out for racking to keg.

 

eta:  this is with white labs 833.

While the yeast is largely still in suspension, which I think you mentioned in the other thread, I wouldn't chill the beer (to avoid prematurely interrupting active yeast). Unless you really want to see just how fast you can bring this beer to the tap and you are confident that the taste test was clean. My recollection was that WLP833 dropped pretty well, once it was done. 

[Brauer]

That said, since WLP833 drops pretty well, once it is done, that could be well underway in a few days. It is a pretty well behaved yeast, if not quite as well behaved as WLP830.

[positiveContact]

While the yeast is largely still in suspension, which I think you mentioned in the other thread, I wouldn't chill the beer (to avoid prematurely interrupting active yeast). Unless you really want to see just how fast you can bring this beer to the tap and you are confident that the taste test was clean. My recollection was that WLP833 dropped pretty well, once it was done. 

 

would you keep it at the elevated temperature or let it slowly cool down?  my basement is about 47F right now so if I just kept this in the chest freezer it would be a pretty slow drop.

 

but either way how long would you wait before really chilling it down to close to freezing?  I typically try to bring all of my beers down to about 33-34F for 2-3 days before I keg them.

[Brauer]

It's just that if you chill it too soon, you are reverting to the typical homebrew lagering method, where you might have to wait for weeks while the beer cleans up. I would consider the yeast dropping to be a good sign that it isn't going to do much more.

[positiveContact]

It's just that if you chill it too soon, you are reverting to the typical homebrew lagering method, where you might have to wait for weeks while the beer cleans up. I would consider the yeast dropping to be a good sign that it isn't going to do much more.

 

what's unfortunate that short of pulling another sample I have no way of knowing.  the fermentor is not transparent.

[Brauer]

what's unfortunate that short of pulling another sample I have no way of knowing.  the fermentor is not transparent.

A few days should be enough, once fermentation is done, but I hate deciding these things by a clock. What if the fermentation stumbled and there is more clean-up work to do than usual? I don't cold crash my beer, Lager or Ale, but perhaps this is something you do with Ales in this same time-frame, so you would be more equipped to know if this is a good thing to do than I would.

 

Early on I cold crashed a couple Ales that seemed finished, but weren't, resulting in acetaldehyde that then took a long time to get rid of. As a result, I'm always cautious of interrupting any signs of post-fermentation activity.

[positiveContact]

A few days should be enough, once fermentation is done, but I hate deciding these things by a clock. What if the fermentation stumbled and there is more clean-up work to do than usual? I don't cold crash my beer, Lager or Ale, but perhaps this is something you do with Ales in this same time-frame, so you would be more equipped to know if this is a good thing to do than I would.

 

Early on I cold crashed a couple Ales that seemed finished, but weren't, resulting in acetaldehyde that then took a long time to get rid of. As a result, I'm always cautious of interrupting any signs of post-fermentation activity.

 

I've been burnt before I think.  Caution isn't a bad thing.

[Big Nake]

FWIW, I typically do an old-school lager process where the primary sits in the fridge for 2-3 weeks at 50° and then I take the primary out and allow it to rest on the basement floor (where I might swirl it a few times over 2-3 days) before it goes to secondary where it sits for longer at that same basement temp. Then it goes to a keg where it's chilled to 35° (usually overnight) and carbed. No, it's not a new, quicker method but I'm not ordinarily in a hurry to get a beer to the taps anyway. The only really important step in that process is that the beer needs to have that raise in temp for some amount of time to clean up sulphury flavors, diacetyl and possibly lower the gravity a tick or two. Ales follow a similar schedule except that they ferment in the low 60s and are more likely to come to the taps quicker where the kegs of lager may sit in the on-deck fridge longer.

Edited by Village Taphouse, 22 March 2015 - 08:57 AM.

[positiveContact]

I'm not so much in a hurry as I am wanting to make sure the fermentation is as healthy as possible.  I hate it when beers stall out on me and raising the temp as the fermentation progresses ensures a nice complete fermentation.

[Stout_fan]

First off, I use the yeast to make a lightly hopped 1.035 to 1.040 session blond steam beer about two volumes of my lager.

For me that's 25 gal. It's actually a starter in disguise. You need a crap-tonne of yeast to lager properly. See Mr-malty.com.  (Thanks JZ)

Various flavorings will convert the steam to 5 cornies of "different" beer for summertime quaffing.

I'm thinking blueberry, strawberry, ginger and such.

Harvest the yeast, chill it and get ready for the lager.

My lager batch is 13-14 gallons.

I pitch in a quart of canned starter at the low temps a day before to wake up the yeast.

After knock-out I chill the brew kettle down to 45°F or so then pitch onto the cold yeast.

Take an OG measurement.

Knowing the apparent degree of fermentation, calculate the FG.

Calculate 2/3 and 3/4 fermentation points.

I then convert this to refractometer readings.

I primary the lager about 2°F above the minimum spec for the yeast to be sure it doesn't stall.

In 1 1/2 to two weeks I start taking gravity measurements.

When the brew hits the 2/3 to 3/4 fermented range, I kill the cooling, allowing the fermentation to free rise to cellar temp, about 68-70°F.

This is my Diacetyl rest.

In another 1 to two weeks, I start taking FG measurements waiting for terminal gravity depending upon airlock activity and absence of sulfur aroma.

I rack it off the trub for the lager storage phase.

Since I went to all this trouble to generate the but-load of yeast, I generally throw a second batch of 13-14 gallons on top of the yeast cake.

naturally, I chill and prep the yeast for low temp fermentation.

 

Many thanks to Mtn who gave me this process and turned my lagers from crap into awesome!

 

Oh yea, and by steam, I really mean Kalifornia common, sorry Fritz.

Edited by Stout_fan, 24 March 2015 - 05:36 PM.