Hey all - So I brewed 5 gallons of a bock using White Labs WLP-833 German Bock Lager yeast. I made a starter with some DME first and pitched this into the wort. It turned out ok, but I was a bit disappointed in my mash process. I only had an initial gravity of 1.042, but it fermented down to 1.008, so it should be a decent brew when it's ready. But then I decided to tweak the mash process and try another bock right on top of the trub from the previous batch. I did better on the mash this time and got an IG of 1.066. After I cooled it down, it went on top of the trub with lots of agitation to get it oxegenated. This was also a 5 gallon batch, and it started going normally. It has been in the fermenter a week now, and I stopped seeing bubbles in the airlock a day or so ago. I figured it was done (most of my beers fully ferment in a week) so I racked it to the secondary this morning, taking a sample for measuring later. Well, I should have looked first because the sample turned out to only be down to 1.030. Now, I'm trying to decide if I need to do anything to this batch, but I'll let it sit for another week and take readings along the way. Meanwhile, I harvested some yeast from this batch to do a European Dark Lager. I washed the yeast, and pitched it onto the new wort, but I'm a bit concerned that I might have some lazy (or maybe tired) yeasties. What do y'all think? How many times have you used yeast and did anyone ever have a batch stick like this when re-using? Appreciate any help. By the way, the lagers are going in my cold room, which runs from about 50-60 degrees. Lately, the thermometer in there has been staying right about 60.
Looks like the stuck batch is doing something now. Could it be that all that trub was choking the yeast?
Ale fermentations usually are pretty much done in a week, but lagers usually take at least two weeks at colder temps. The fact that your fermenting warmer than typical lager fermentations should speed up the process but your beer would have benefited from some more time in primary so that the yeast could have had some time to clean up after themselves. Since lager yeast is a bottom fermenting yeast, they don't appear as vigorous as ale fermentations and gravity readings are the only way to be sure it reached FG. Lagers especially benefit from extended primary's to suck up acetaldehyde, diacetyl, and other off flavors. As far as the trub choking out the yeast I don't think that was the issue, but impatience is the problem instead. Hope the beers turn out great!!
My lagers in the 1.050 range are done in 5 to 6 days at 49F. It used to take 2 weeks,but yeast pitch rates, nutrients, and O2 have helped those get to the time the commercial breweries take. So 2 week long lager fermentations are an indication of poor yeast health, low population or indufficient O2 before pitching (lager yeast do better with 10-12 ppm disolved O2, you can't get there with air). Trub can be a problem, but usualy at the start of fermentation when the yeast are in the growth phase. I have had to blow some lager yeast off the bottom of the conical after almost 2 days, then the airlock immediately goes to town until the fermentationis done. If you pitch cold the VDK's are not as much of a problem, and if you do a D-rest you don't need extended aging, you can crash down to freezing immediately after the rest.
OK, thanks for the input, guys. I am normally brewing ales so I guess I need to adjust my process a bit for lagers. Patience has never been my strong suit.
can you give us the recipe of your Bock? depending upon your grain bill, you might not have far to go to reach FG...
According to Kai Troester: “Because of the slower yeast metabolism at lower fermentation temperatures, lager fermentations take longer than ale fermentations of the same wort. While ale primary fermentations are generally done after 3 - 6 days and final gravity is reached at that time, for lagers it can take 1 - 3 weeks and the final gravity may not be reached after the completed primary fermentation.” So, it is not unusual for the primary fermentation to take longer for a lager as compared to an ale; 1-3 weeks. I personally let my lagers reside in my primary for at least two weeks before transferring to a secondary (a carboy for me) for the lagering phase. All of my lagers have turned out very well following that process. Cheers! http://braukaiser.com/wiki/index.php?title=Fermenting_Lagers#Primary_Fermentation
There seems to be some activity in the airlock, but not very frequent bubbles. I'll just let it go a while longer and check the SG next weekend to see where it sits. For those interested, here is the recipe: 11 Lbs two-row malt 1.5 Lbs Crystal 150L 2.2 Lbs Munich malt Batch sparged. First runnings at 1.050 1oz Hallertau Hersbrucker (3 IBU) at 60 min 0.5 oz Magnum (14 IBU) at 60 min 0.25 oz Magnum (14 IBU) at 30 min 1 oz Hallertau Mittelfruh (4.8 IBU) at 5 min IG = 1.066 White labs WLP-833 German Bock yeast (made 1L starter before) I'm still tweaking my mash process, so don't laugh at my efficiency (or lack thereof)!
But if it's for 5 gallons of wort with an OG of less than 1.060, and the yeast is less than 4 months old, you don't even need any starter. Ugh. Disclaimer: No.
As the trash bag adds back in the 80s used to say "Wimpy, wimpy, wimpy" as the bag failed. Damn I am old.
