Small Scale Lagering

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by GomerB, Nov 17, 2017.

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  1. GomerB

    GomerB Initiate (0) Jan 23, 2016 Nebraska

    I'm wanting to try a lager using a cooler/ice method and a 1-gal fermenter. Do you think I'd be able to control temps enough to effectively do that?

    I know that I'll be giving up precision, but I don't have any temp control equipment now, so anything more than my ambient basement temps (~69* F) would be a variable I could try to control.
     
  2. Prep8611

    Prep8611 Savant (1,208) Aug 22, 2014 New Jersey

    Why not buy a mr. Beer fermenter and stick it in your fridge?
     
  3. PapaGoose03

    PapaGoose03 Grand High Pooh-Bah (6,057) May 30, 2005 Michigan
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah

    You will give up precision control unless you have a temp control device. And you can't use it on your regular fridge set at 50 because you'll end up with potential food spoilage. You need a dedicated fridge/freezer fora control device.

    But, placing your fermentor in a large tub of water on the basement floor away from any device that can fluctuate the ambient temp (furnace, water heater) can give you some control if you regularly place/re-place some frozen bottled water in the tub's water and monitor the temp of the beer to see how many frozen bottles will be needed to get your beer down to around 50 degrees, and then how often to change-out the frozen bottles once they thaw out. A wet towel placed over the sides of the fermentor and draped into the water will also continuously wick up more water and provide some additional moderation.
     
  4. Bryan12345

    Bryan12345 Initiate (0) Mar 17, 2016 Texas

    You can make a decent lager if you simply keep the temp within the lager range. Theoretically your idea should work fine, it just seems like a lot of work to check the temp multiple times per day for weeks or months. Remember, lagers take significantly longer to ferment and store (“lager”) than ales.

    Speaking of lagers, anyone recognize this?: “I’m a logger. Just up from Coos Bay, Oregon. Been toppin trees.”
     
  5. GormBrewhouse

    GormBrewhouse Pooh-Bah (2,111) Jun 24, 2015 Vermont
    Pooh-Bah

    I used to log in the winter, never topped trees, cut cut them down
     
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