brewed a lager on 5/23/20, wlp830 pitched cold @46F and let it warm up to 48-49F, fermentation was visible by 5/25 so i let it ride at 48-49F for 7 days, yeast activity (swirling around),krausen still visible today 6/2, yesterday i pulled the probe off the side of the fermenter and dialed up my temp controller to 55F gonna leave it for another few days before increasing temp again to 60F, question is, should i have waited to raise the temp once the activity was slower, i know i should have checked gravity but been real busy lately so i took a leap of faith
I think you’re fine. I wouldn’t worry about it.
Assuming that this is not a high gravity beer, I think you’ll be fine. I’m sure that the majority of the fermentation is already complete.
1.060 overshot, my target was 1.055
No problem
very true, best case it turns out, worst case i learned a lesson to never slack off on gravity readings
I confess I seldom take gravity reading before adjusting temp, especially if I’m raising the temp
I agree, but lately I have been using a Tilt hydrometer and it has taken away almost all concerns about when to ramp or allow it to rise to 60 or so to finish. Many brewers would be surprised how quickly fermentation nears completion. It allows for subtle lager experiments with spunding, as well or late pressure fermenting in primary.
with ales i hardly ever but i find lagers a bit tricky personally, cause they move so slowly compared to ales its hard to call it by eye
I think some lager yeast do move glacially slow but I’ve been knocking out lagers in ~6-7 days with a 1g/liter pitch of W34/70 @59*F.
I’ve been doing the same with about half that amount.
I have found that 3 packs of S-189 (33 grams total) in 10 gallons (approx. 40 liters) of wort will finish in about 5 days at mid 50’sF, with rise to 62F allowed at or about 3-5 points of expected FG. YMMV
My experience has been ~10-12 days if I halve the pitch with 34/70 (.5g/liter). It seemed to just plod along. [emoji2369]