So I pitched my 1gal starter of wlp802 ( .5 gal stepped to another .5 gal…estimated at 500 bill cells) into my pilsner at 1.051OG. I pitched decanted starter into 60f wort and It started fermenting after 6 hours, and now at about 81 hours of fermentation, it’s at 1.020. I’m thinking tomorrow night I better do the d-rest, as at 1.019 I’m at about 80% complete since my final should be about 1.010. My fermentation temp has been 51-52f. This just seems really fast to me…but I’ve never used this yeast before. Ay thoughts?
First off…pitching your gallon starter is not really what you did…you made two of the one-half gallon starters which is not the same at all… did you use a stir plate? did you aerate with an aquarium pump? did you use oxygen? forgive me if I do not know your past posts, but many people coming to this forum would not know either unless you specified with more information…IMHO, your fermentation stage is only 61% completed from what you described so why would you want to do the D-rest this early? my math may be wrong and if so I apologize…cheers!!-
right… ;) you can relax now.
Looking at Mr. Malty and Yeastcalc, you needed 375 Billion cells if that was a 5.25G batch. If you pitched 500B, then that speed would not surprise me. That being the case, take a taste and see whether you need a diacetyl rest at all. You pitched plenty of yeast and sounds like they were quite healthy!
Dave
dave- thanks for the constructive feedback. my fault for not saying, but i was 5.75 gallons in the carboy. mr.malty and other calcs called for about 410bil, so you are correct stating i pitched a little high (by design).
i was just surprised how quickly its moved. im targeting around 1.016-.017 to do the d-rest…i just prefer to do it as matter of practice vs. skipping it and getting burned by the butter…so to speak. ;D
thanks again for the feedback.
maybe my math for figuring % fermentation is off…if im looking for about 75% completion, whats the formula?
thanks
Most of my lagers of that OG range are done in 5 or 6 days. I pitch at about 44 to 45 F, so a wrmer pitch means it will start faster, but may make more VDKs.
Time to do the D rest at 1.020 for a 1.050 beer Is about 1.020 so I agree.
thanks for confirming the math… i guess i figured pitching at 60F was only slightly higher than my target ferm temp of 52F. once i put it into lager chamber, it didn’t take long to drop down to my set temp of 52F. hopefully this isn’t a negative in the final product. i will have to experiment with lower pitching temps and compare.
Yeah, you should. I found that my lagers turned out better when I started pitching a bit below fermentation temp and letting it rise to the temp intended. Give it a try and compare the results to what you’re doing now.
+1 - much, much better…
i believe you guys…probably my mistake last time also denny where i had slight diacetyl in the last lager Denny.
right now its at 1.020, and i tasted a touch of diacetyl. should i pull it now for d-rest or wait for it to move a few more points? i know my target FG is 1.010, which would make 1.020 the appropriate d-rest…but what if the beer intends to finish lower at 1.008-9. i’d hate to pull it early at 1.020 if that were the case…what would you guys do?
Man, I apologize… For some reason I computed your attenuation rate reached at point 1.020 which was (51-20)/51 = 60.7% instead of your completion percentage… And when plugging your starter size into yeastcalc it helps if I remember to put it in gallons instead of liters …No wonder I had the cell count off by so much… doh!!!.. Sorry again…
no worries ;D
just wondering if waiting another day or two fermenting at 50-51F is better than pulling it now for d-rest, just in case it does end up at under 1.010…any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!! thanks
If you are going to a secondary, you can do the d-rest now, but I just leave mine in the primary for a month without D-rests. The yeast finish the lager off without a problem.
no secondary…right to keg after fermentation is done. but considering i have diacetyl present now at 1.020 (75% of target 1.010) im questioning moving it now to d-rest or waiting for it to move a little lower just in case the beer actually finished up lower than 1.010…get what im saying?
You’re well below the gravity where I would worry about temperature, so I say go ahead and start letting it warm up.
ok appreciate it. and would you let it warm up and let it stay there until finished, or move it back to freezer after a few days and slowly drop temp to 45F…then transfer to keg after 2 weeks for lagering at 32?
Warm it up. Fermentation will speed up and finish in 2 days in my experience. Then cool.
thanks again so much…as you can see im new to lagers…been an ale guy exclusively until recently. already learned something today…pitch below target temp…around 45F next time! question on that - i use copper chiller and can get wort down to about 60F. should i then stick the brew kettle in my freezer and wait for it to hit 45F, or transfer to carboy with airlock into freezer and wait for it to drop to 45F? not sure if the time in the kettle even with lid would expose wort to too much oxygen, and therefore carboy with airlock would be better.