I currently have a lager in my fermentation fridge. I need to brew an ale for an event, but the lager needs more time. I only have a small window to brew and I ferment in kegs. Does anyone see any issues that may occur if I pressurize the wort, store in a refrigerator (cant adjust to fermentation temps) and pitch the ale yeast when the lager is finished? I’m thinking I have another week or two before the lager is complete.
Wort should not sit for longer than a day or two before adding yeast to it. If there is any imperfection in your sanitization, it can be overcome by wild yeast or bacteria in a short time. After all, we do not sterilize kegs but can only try our best to sanitize. Sterilization and sanitization are two different things. Your risk of contamination would be great, even in cold and pressurized conditions. IF temperature control of your ale is of vital importance to you, then I would recommend moving your lager to another fridge and pitch yeast into the ale immediately. On the other hand, consider fermenting your ale at ambient conditions not in your fridge. I don’t know what your ambient conditions are but most ales will be fine if there is an area of your home less than 70 F (21 C). Or consider keeping a wet t-shirt on the fermenter to bring temperature down a couple of degrees.
Welcome to the forum! That was a great first question. Hope you find the answers you seek and have success.
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The guidelines according to the MBAA written in the handbook is 12 hours. however, I have gone 24 hours many, many times without any problems. I would not advise to go much longer than that. And, as always, make sure you picth enough yeast so that you don’t have an unnecessarily long lag.
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Both Dave and Majorvices suggestions are great. Remember, when you make beer, it is a competition between the yeast and any bacteria that makes it to th wort after chilling. You always want the yeast to win thee battle and crowd out the bacteria.
Welcome aboard the forum train! There is a lot of great information here.
One of my main thoughts, besides an infection, is oxygenation.
What kind of gravity and yeast type are you using? If you’re pitching a dry yeast, then I would recommend pitching at least 2 packs. If you’re using a liquid yeast, then you should look at how oxygen levels in the wort will affect fermentation.
How much more time does your lager need? most lagers are fermented out in 2 or 3 weeks, but the lagering process can be done outside of the fermentor.
but this could be an opportunity to make sure your cleaning and sanitization steps are good.
Since the consensus is - not as long as you’d like to hold it to use your usual process - think about alternative ways to run your ale ferment. Is your bottle neck the temp controlled space? Depending on your yeast strain, you could run the beer in your keg and put the keg in a water bath. I used to ferment that way for years.
The temperates drop to the low 30s (current conditions) and summer highs run 90-110. My brewery is in a metal garage in the back of our property with no heating or cooling. To avoid an argument, the house is off limits. The attached garage is insulated, so that may be an option.
I was just hoping I could get away with waiting to pitch if I purged, pressurized and cooled the fermenter in the meantime.
The kicker to this whole story is I just purchased the Brewbuilt x3 with a glycol chiller two months ago…but the “Warming Wizard Wand” is STILL on pre order. So, it just sits there taunting me.
If you can brew in the old garage out back but ferment in the attached garage, perhaps this improves your options a little bit. Good luck.
Good point. Be sure to oxygenate before you pitch. I inline oxygenate except in the case that the beer must sit overnight (I rarely have to do this anylonger due to the design of my heat exchange, I can get down to 50F no problem). If, for whatever reason, I deside to pitch the next day I aerate the FV rather than inline. This, of course, is not necessary for dry yeast.
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