Salvaging a brew

Lagering is extended cold storage after fermentation is done. It's not the fermentation itself. People get confused because lager fermentation and lagering should both be at temps lower than ale fermentation.

50F is a good temperature for lager fermentation. 40F (or lower) is a good temp for lagering. But lager yeasts don't need cool temps (50F-ish) in order to ferment beer. The yeast themselves are just as happy (or happier) at typical ale temperatures. The reason for fermenting around 50F is to minimize production of yeast derived flavor compounds (byproducts).

Lager fermentations are usually a bit slower than ale fermentations. But if your fermenter is tightly sealed, you should see bubbles.

 

Your best beer ever
It may not be but it's beer.
Better brews ahead.

- Herb's Homebrew Haiku

 

An ale-like beer, basically.

I'd recommend a secondary for lagering. (Many people use corny kegs for this.) You can lager in the bottle, but IMO that's not ideal. For one thing, the things that are dropping out of suspension during lagering are still in your finished package (the bottle). I don't care how carefully someone pours, stuff will get stirred up. You can probably count the number of commecial breweries that lager in the bottle on one hand.

There's much more to a Kolsch than that. I wouldn't expect this beer to be particularly Kosch-like. But IMO, many ales can benefit from some cold storage. (Doesn't make them a Kolsch though.)

 

More Homebrew Haiku

It's Darwinian.
You brew it...you drink it all.
Mistakes take their toll.

 

Best advice I can give you.. Because you have a lot of questions. Invest in a book called, "How to Brew" by John Palmer. It has everything a beginner needs to start making good beer & also enough scientific details (mash chemistry, water chemistry, etc) that I still often reference it after 3 years of brewing.

 

Reading back over the responses, I don't think anyone sounded annoyed, except perhaps you. Keep asking your questions.

 

I think you might need to grow a thicker skin. It's quite possible he has made more than 30 successful batches in those three years (I really don't know). But the advice he gave you was excellent, given what you have posted in this thread.

 

I've been brewing for only... 4 years I think, so you've got me beat.

But I've brewed more beers in 2 years than you have in 20 years. Practice makes close to perfect.

Post your questions and we will be happy to answer them. I think people tend to read things differently online, and add their own emotion to the sentence. It's okay if you are new, or aren't sure of something.

I play golf, and have for quite some time. I live on a golf course. I used to play to a low single digit handicap and played over 100 rds a year all over the place. I have twin boys now, and I'm going to be lucky to get 10 rounds in this year. I wont need to explain myself when I hit a shit shot to my playing partners about how I used to be a single digit, and why my 86 that day was out of the norm for my game and how great I used to be. I'm open to critical comments of my game, due to lack of playing. Look at this as something similar.

 

with your current beer, treat it like an ale from this point forward. You've got two strains in there, and I'd suggest letting both finish out what they need to do. Both will do so at good ale temps. If you want to secondary it, do so, but I would leave it for another week to clean up whatever mess the two strains made during fermentation.

You can then bottle it once the gravity is stable. Leave them in the bottles for 3 weeks or so to carbonate, and if you can, then leave them in the fridge for a couple weeks, that'll help drop out the yeast, especially the lager yeast that will be in there.

In the future, I would avoid lagers unless you have temp control to keep a low fermentation temp, and the ability to drop it even lower and lager the beer for 4-6 weeks.

Look up Kolsch or a steam beer recipe. Ale yeast, that can be used at low temps, but need some cold conditions, such as something you can do in the bottle if need be. They will have lager like characteristics, be crisp and clear, yet allow you to ferment it at ale temps.

 

In those three years I've worked 1.5 years as a brewer at a commercial brewery and have a wall of homebrew competition awards and medals, including more than a handful of Best of Shows. Quality over quantity my friend. Your welcome for the advice, I was simply recommending a brewing book that is a staple, or should be, in every brewers library beginner all the way through expert. I myself am no expert and do not know it all and never will, that is the beauty of the art & science of brewing. Everyday I'm learning new things and will always be a student of the art.

With an attitude like your displaying here though, you'd be hard pressed to get any better at brewing, no matter if you brew for another century. If your going to ask for advice, you should at least be respectful to those trying to help you out, not shoot them back with snarky, defensive comments.

 

To the OP...billandsuz offers up the best advice...stop shitting on the contributors.