On the 24th I brewed my first lagers. A 1.050 Bohemian and a 1.045 American. I did three-quart starters three days prior. I cold crashed the wort over night at 45 deg, racked off the cold break to fermentors. Crashed and decant the starters and pitched. Set me temp at 50. Yesterday they hit 1.020 so I’m on the 60 degree rest now. They are clean pretty and smell great so far.
So, I am assuming they will finish in a week at about 1.080-95. Then I will keg, pressurized, and lager in me kegerator at 35 for four weeks. Correct?
“Freedom is temporary unless you are also Brave!” - Patriot
Sounds about right to me, although they may continue to improve beyond 4 weeks of lagering in the keg. Be warned, if you start to sample them early they may not last the full lagering period
Yep. That’s how I blew through my most recent Munich Dunkel. I had to pull some bottles off the keg for comp purposes just so we wouldn’t drink every last drop. Which means that the Maibock that I had intended on lagering until May is on tap right now… this is dangerous.
That’s ok…you’re just following the trend of all those commercial brewers out there. Octoberfest and Harvest Ales in July, Summer Ales in March, Maibock in April… ;D
I love lagers…have a German Pils and Munich Helles on tap right now. Hope to get a Czech Pils and Schwarzbier done this year, along with Marzen in July (brewed in July not on tap )
Jim, lagers can be very rewarding after the wait. Once you have some success, they will be part of your brewing rotation. You might need more kegs, if you keg.
We have done a Landbier, Helles, German Pils, CAP, Vienna, and a sort of clone of Quiannanon Falls lager by Bells (like a Pils but with American hop like Crystal). Have a Czech Pils planned.
Not to derail the thread, but what yeast did you use for this? I’m really liking the hoppy lagers that I’ve been brewing lately, and now I want to start to dial it in a bit. I most recently tried WY2007, but it isn’t quite “lagery” enough for what I’m looking for.
I really want to start making some light lagers just to test my skill. The flaws will be very noticeable if I screw up something. I am sad to say I have been brewing for a few years now and have never attempted a pale lager. Time to get on it, huh?
A lot of the lagers really allow you to dial in your setup. I will do a recipe a few times then try something different after I feel like I have it down with consistency. So far they get downed fairly quickly when they get tapped…I may have to search for some exotic lagers to give a whirl.
These two are already at 1.010 after just two weeks. 8 days at 50 and 6 days at 60. Hydrometer sample tastes great, no acytaldeyde or sulfur. But carbonated so its still working. How crazy, huh? I’ll take a read in another 7 days and start my decent to lagering temp. Going to drop 3 a day to 36 then rack to kegs for lagering
“Freedom is temporary unless you are also Brave!” - Patriot
I pitched yeast on the a month ago. They have been in the kegs a week. I took a sneak preview and they are amazing. Simple, subtle, tasty, addictive, and clean. The wife took a taste and said best larger she ever had. She normally tells me the truth so I think I hit a homer. Thanks for the help!
Now to let them age a month and enjoy on a week of vacation.
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