I bottle condition my beer and I decided to try a lager and now I’m second guessing my process.
Okay, so here’s where I’m at. I bottled the beer about 5 weeks ago and set it in my fermentation chamber at 70°. After about two weeks, I sampled it and the carbonation level seemed fine, so I lowered the temperature to 55° and it’s been there ever since. I have sampled the beer a few times and it’s been great. The beer style is a Helles Bock. My question is: how long do I keep it at 55° and at what point do I crash it; will I even need to crash it? I’m trying to learn protocol, if any, for lagers.
I skip the 55F stage altogether. My lagers are in the fermenter 10-ish days and then into the keg where they carbonate and sit at fridge temp (37F) until the keg is empty. I tap them 4-5 weeks after packaging. They are clear and delicious.
In your case I would bottle, let carbonate out of the fridge for 2-3 weeks and then move them to the fridge. Beers clear faster at lower temps.
I haven’t ever had any issues with carbonation. There is always plenty of yeast left to carbonate. This brew was in the fermenter for over two weeks before the FG leveled out; the longest fermentation I can remember. My beers come out fine. I’m wondering about lagering, what temperature, how long and when to crash.
I’m new to bottle lagering and my process is, after fermentation and a diacetyl rest, to crash @35F for a minimum of two weeks. As mentioned, if your beer tastes good, why bother crashing? My understanding of lagering however is that it not only affects clarity but also flavor. So, maybe there’s a chance it could taste better?
That makes no sense at all. What difference would it make if the beer is already in a bottle? As I understand, the reason for crashing (bringing the beer down to near freezing) is to force whatever may still be in suspension down to the bottom. In that instance, where bottle conditioning is used, that would be the bottom of the bottle.
My understanding of lagering is to allow the fully fermented and conditioned beer to rest at about 55°F for “X”. My quest is to understand and define “X”.
I’m not sure why a beer needs to lager on the yeast. Most lager brewers, that I know of, (especially pro’s) want to get the beer off the yeast soon after the beer hits terminal gravity. There are a number of reasons for this. I personally get it off the yeast in @ 3 weeks. 2 weeks of that are active fermentation, 1 week of cold crashing. It takes another 3-4 weeks of lagering for most lagers to peak sort to speak. Getting the beer off the yeast is done so the yeast doesn’t start to deteriorate and cause off flavors. If you bottle condition, you will leave the vast majority of yeast behind.
If you are bottle conditioning a lager, you can drop the temperature to 32-33F after the beer is fully carbonated. The beer will get clearer and the sulfur notes will fade into the background, bitterness will round out. My lagers are best 6-10 weeks after brew day.
Put those beers in the refrigerator and have one now and then and they will keep getting better over time. Too long, however, and oxygen starts to reduce the beer’s overall flavor.
2 reasons..it finishes fermentation while it lagers. Ans the yeast also needs to be there to reduce diacetyl and other compounds. Like I said, that’s the historical way to do it. Yeast autolysis takes far longer than a few weeks, especially at the homebrew scale.
That’s typically a German method, drop the temperature prior to final gravity and keep dropping until it hits 32-35F. That’s a little risky for even the most seasoned brewer.
There varied ways of lagering, each method a just as valid as the German method. As far as getting beer off the yeast, the cone is typical dump or transferred to a vessel within days of hitting terminal gravity. It’s very common to see in a lot of breweries, including my little home brew setup.
I’ve just finished my first lager. Been brewing for over 30 years, never tried a lager before. I bottle condition my beers as well but couldn’t find much info on bottling lagers. After primary I did a diacetyl test until the diacetyl was no longer present.I coldcrashed for nearly three weeks at 4°C (39°F), bottled with glucose and a little fresh dry yeast (Fermentis 34/70). Kept that at 18°C but the diacetyl returned. It is fading, but has anyone an idea why that happened? I wouldn’t expect this from the bottle fermentation. Anyone had this happen and what happened to your beer? Should I keep it at 18°C (64°F) until the flavor is gone?
Tia,
Markbom
