Bloktoberfest - Oktoberfest lager

[Alastair70]

Something to tuck away until haloween.

Water
Alk 20ppm, Ca 115, Mg10, Cl 90, SO4 120
23L batch

Fermentables
Munich - Dark 2.2kg
Vienna 2.2kg
Caramunich 0.4kg
Malanoidin 0.4kg

Mash
40 min - 62C
20 min - 68C
10 min - 75C

Hops
60 min - 28g Hallertau Magnum
15 min - Protoflac
0 min - 15g Hallertau Mittelfruh

Yeast
Wy2206 Bavarian Larger

OG 1.048 - IBU 25 - EBC 25

23L in fermenter, OG within a point of expected so happy all round. Fermenting at 10C, will start daily 1degree temp increments to 17C when gravity hits 1.020 until D-rest and fermentation completes. Package 1/2 min keg and 1/2 in bottles and lager for 4 months.

 

[Ossiary]

Nice! I just kegged my first Oktoberfest Marzen attempt yesterday and started Lagering. There should be enough time to try this in late July and brew another for Oktoberfest plans in late Sept. At least, that's the plan.

 

[Alastair70]

Well, it looks like my fridge is bust, apart from the odd wheeze and rattle there's not too much in the way of signs of life from it and the brew has warmed up to garage temperatures since pitching yesterday.
Off for a quiet swearing session while I try to work out what to do next

 

[Ossiary]

That’s terrible news!

 

[Alastair70]

Well, I’ve switched it off and on again, and it’s running. Beer temp hit 14C which isn’t overly high, but definitely not how I like to treat my lager fermentations. Looks like I’m in for a rocky 3 or 4 weeks!

 

[Rodcx500z]

Give it a good stern talking to let it know there is lager in there that needs looking after, and if you don't i will take you to landfill

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

Fermenting at 10C, will start daily 1degree temp increments to 17C when gravity hits 1.020 until D-rest and fermentation completes.

Really interested in this, as I've been fermenting my first lager (BoHo pils) at 10ºC and it's just reached 1020 or thereabouts. Is this something I should be doing?

 

[Gerryjo]

Really interested in this, as I've been fermenting my first lager (BoHo pils) at 10ºC and it's just reached 1020 or thereabouts. Is this something I should be doing?

Raise it up by another 2° then come near end of fermentation gradually raise it to around 18° for a few days then drop down to lagering temps as this will give your test time to clean up.

 

[Alastair70]

What I do is take it a degree a day until it hits 16 or 18 then leave it for a couple days. The yeast cells gobble up any diacetyl and acetaldehyde in the brew. The theory is that when gravity is 1.020, theres still plenty of yeast activity to facilitate the process. I did miss the boat once with a quicker than expeceted fermentation but still managed a successful D-rest despite starting late.
You can do a diacetyl test if your'e really worried, but I just have a swig of the trial jar when I think I'm ready to start lagering. Then I'll drop the temp by about 5C per day till it gets down to 1C and leave it for 4-6 weeks in the FV to clear.

Edit-Diacetyl is supposed to taste like cinema popcorn, but I perceive a more much astringent burnt butter flavour when it’s present. 20% of the population do not have the gene to pick it up so it’s worth tasting a young lager to see if you’re in that number. I was all set up to do a proper diacetyl test the first time I brewed a lager, but didn’t feel the need once I’d had a sip from the jar I had collected the sample in. It was like a big slap in the tastebuds.

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

Thanks for the explanation and advice - will certainly do that. I had a taste from the trial jar today and didn’t get any popcorn, but worth doing anyhow by the sounds of it

 

[Alastair70]

Thanks for the explanation and advice - will certainly do that. I had a taste from the trial jar today and didn’t get any popcorn, but worth doing anyhow by the sounds of it

If it’s tasting good now you’re on to a winner. There’s nowhere to hide when it comes to off flavours in lager. God knows what this brew is going to turn out like with all the temp fluctuations and my mid-treatment of the yeast before it got pitched!

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

This is what I love about brewing - there’s always more to learn
Incidentally I’m told (this article) that I should to do a diacetyl rest even if I can’t taste any at this stage, because there may be high levels of the precursor acetolactate...

 

[Ossiary]

I totally agree! I currently have my first two attempts at Lagers in the Lagering Fridge. They’re also my first two attempts at Decoction Mashing. Nothing like jumping in with both feet.
My Bohemian Pilsner was fermented @ 12C as the Wyeast advice was to ferment warmer to reduce sulphur. Then I increased temp for the last few days to 15C. The Märzen was fermented @ 10C and then slowly increased to 15C. Not sure if that is warm enough for the D Rest? My feeling is that as with most chemical/biochemical reactions they take place at a temperature range, all be it slower at cooler temperatures in that range? Both taste good so far, and the Bo Pils will be ready to carbonate in a couple of weeks. Märzen is two weeks behind that. REALLY looking forward to drinking them.

 

[Alastair70]

Same here and thanks for the link TETB, I'll read that later. Hopefully, what I've been doing so far isn't too far off the mark!

 

[Alastair70]

Just shy of 3 weeks in FV and this one’s pretty much done. A swig from the trial jar tastes amazing. Exactly what I was shooting for. The first 24 hours of high temps due to fridge malfunction haven’t given rise to any noticeable off flavours. FG of 1.013 gives an ABV of 4.8%, so right on the money. Going to cold crash for a week or so then package it up half keg, half bottle. It can sit in a fridge for the next 4 months and get just more delicious.

The iSpindle is perfect for lager brewing, D-rest timed perfectly with out constant sampling.

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

Great to hear - fortunately my two brews that got a bit hot seem to be OK too :-)

 

[Alastair70]

I’m reading Yeast at the minute. Chris White does say it’s ok to pitch lager yeast into warmer wort to help reduce the lag time. My practice had been to pitch into wort at 8C and bring the temp up to 10 over a day or two, which is what I’ll probably stick to in the future.

 

[Hanglow]

If anyone wants to see if they can taste diacetyl well then Pilsner Urquell is brewed to have low-ish levels of it.

Or if you cant detect it in that then Sam Smiths nut brown ale has bucketloads of diacetyl, if you can't perceive it in that then you can't taste it

 

[Alastair70]

I appear to have made a very clear beer, it got 7 days of cold crash before packaging, just to let the bigger stuff settle. Now it’s lagering properly for 3-4 months.