Lagers!

Couple tips to start this off..

- Pitch Lots of Yeast, with lots of O2, and don't forget yeast nutrient
- Pitch around 48F, ferment around 50F.
- Raise temp toward end of attenuation for Diacety Rest

 

Chapter 10 - What is Different for Brewing Lager Beer? of the book How to Brew will likely be helpful to you.

As with all brewing there will be some varying opinions. For example, I have never conducted a diacetyl rest for my lagers. I would not recommend that you forego a diacetyl rest for your first lager but for my homebrewing experience it is an unnecessary step.

Also, on the online How to Brew book, John lists varying lager durations vs. varying lager temperatures: “3.Nominal lagering times are 3 - 4 weeks at 45°F, 5 - 6 weeks at 40°F, or 7 - 8 weeks at 35°F.”

Good luck on your first lager!

Cheers!

 

i agree with the simple approach, and not just with lagers either. one thing to consider

7 or 8 or 9 pounds of extra light DME
few ounces of noble hops for bittering and aroma

very fine pils can be made with extra light DME. quality lager is really dependent on yeast and fermentation management. you can take away a lot of headaches by going with DME, even if you usually don't brew extract this might be a time to consider.

also
everything said above plus patience.

you can bottle condition lager no problem.
decide which lager you are making. pils? bock? in between? personally, I appreciate a middle of the road pils style as an expression of lager ability and experience.


Cheers

 

A little late in the brewing year, but maibocks kick ass:

2-row 70%
Munich 15%
Vienna 15%
OG 1.070
Tight pH, chloride heavy

Perle at 60
Hallertau at 10
BU:GU 0.5:1

Whatever lager yeast (big starter).

 

bottle conditioning lagers works fine. Cold condition once carbed properly and it won't take long to get back to where it was when you finished lagering.

 

I can’t personally comment about the varying times/temperatures that John Palmer details. I personally lager my moderate gravity (1.050ish) lagers for 6-7 weeks at temperatures in the upper 30’s. There may be a ‘better’ schedule but this one works for me.

“I now know that I CAN detect this flavor, and if it's a problem with lagers I'd like to avoid it right out of the gate.” An option is to just conduct a diacetyl rest as ‘cheap insurance’. I have read where some folks taste a sample from the primary and if they perceive diacetyl they conduct a diacetyl rest (if they don’t perceive it they don’t conduct a diacetyl rest). I personally have never conducted a diacetyl rest for my 70+ batches of lager and I have never experienced excess diacetyl in any of my beers (I have a sensitive palate for diacetyl).

Cheers!

 

I doubt if I could tell you much you don't already know. You've been doing this awhile so you know about pitch rates, and you've got the set-up to control fermentation temp and to lager. So what is there to say?

I suppose I could mention that, for me at least, lager brewing is challenging because it's all about process. It's true of brewing in general, I think, but particularly true of lagers. Most lager recipes are extremely simple. You want a SMASH? Pretty much all german pilsners are nothing but german pils malt and hallertau. Most lager recipes aren't much more than base malt plus some munich (or maybe Vienna) plus noble hops. So making a really good one is all about process. Which is to say, things like water chemistry, mash temp, pitch rate etc matter more with your typical pils or maibock than your usual IPA or stout. And there's no place for mistakes to hide. But you knew that.

OK, so here's one thing that surprised me: most lagers get a LOT better if you extend the lagering time beyond what's generally recommended. I know the general rule of thumb (at least one week of lagering time per 2 degrees Plato, or 8 gravity points) will tell you that a 1.048 pilsner will be ready to drink in six weeks, but I'm telling you it'll be a lot better at about 10 weeks. I've got a pilsner now that is really surprising me that way: it was good, no flaws, a perfectly nice beer when I first tapped it in January. It's much, much better now. Enough so that with my next pils I'm not even tapping it for at least three months. If I can help it. I've had similar experiences with doppelbocks and maibocks. Lagers benefit from long lagering.

Also, FWIW, I do my lagers seasonally, and often do it in a way that allows me to use the yeast cake from one beer to ferment the next, larger beer. So for example, I might brew an Oktoberfest in June, and when it's done with primary, transfer it to a cornie for lagering and drop a doppelbock on the yeast cake. This is much cheaper and easier than doing a series of step starters in order to get the cell count you need for a high gravity lager, and it works great.

 

Agreed with the whole using cakes from some strains, saves on have 2-3 flasks around the house spinning away and crashing.

Lagers are awesome, I just wish they took a shorter time to be ready, but they are well, well worth it when you get one to come out correctly. Yeast management is paramount, temp control is paramount.

That said.. a good CAP or Czech Pils will always hit the spot any time of the year for me, and with almost any meal.

 

I'm loving WLP 838 right now, if you're looking for a yeast rec.

 

Oh, my favorite lager yeast (hands down) is Wyeast 2124.

Cheers!

 

You can lager in shorter times at -1C, if the beer is free of diacetyl.

 

The obvious (to me) lager smash is a Bo Pils, just pils malt and Saaz (you probably want to add more ) I also like 2124 and I agree that you should plan on a long lagering period, it might be drinkable at 4 weeks but it will almost certainly improve with time.

Do a Bo Pils now and it will be perfect for the middle of summer.

 

Partly on Jack's recommendation, I adopted 2124 as my house lager yeast. I'm really happy with it. A great yeast that has never given me the diacetyl or sulfur I've gotten from some other commonly used lager yeasts. Highly recommended!

 

I am going to use it in an upcoming pilsner. I havent been completely happy with my attempts until now with the urquell and german lager yeast. Just wasnt the clean profile I was looking for.

 

I did my first lager back at the beginning of winter. The recipe was modeled after Abita Amber Lager. We let it ferment at a fairly cool temperature for the first few weeks, as per the recipe. We got some great activity, did the diacetyl rest for a few days, then gradually put it in colder places until it was resting in a cold, non-insulated room that fluctuated between 32-42 degrees. When we racked into a carboy it looked absolutely GORGEOUS and had a wonderful flavor profile even in its early stages. I mention my lager because we didn't follow the rule of thumb for weeks of lagering. Instead, we wanted to go for a more natural, traditional approach and just let it sit there all winter, which is what an employee at our local brew store recommended. It's been in cold storage for a total of probably around 3 months and we're getting ready to bottle now that the weather is finally warming up. I can't wait to see how it's turned out, though I hope it's a success because we've been waiting literally all winter for it to be done.

 

To add to what the others said...

If you're using a lot of pils make sure you boil for 90min.

If you have a SS kettle use that, aluminum kettles seem to darken the wort, at least in my set up.

One thing I typically do to ensure I have plenty of yeast is to brew a small batch first, like a 3 gal batch of a 1.040 pilsner, I'll bottle that, and the use the cake to pitch into a 5 gal batch of a stronger lager. However, I still make an appropriate starter for the 3 gal batch.

I have yet to experience a lager yeast that doesn't throw off sulfur so don't be alarmed when you smell it.

good luck,

 

While your lager is fermenting in the temperature controlled chamber, don't inhale deeply when you open said chamber while checking on the beer. It kinda burns.