Lager Making

[thesteve]

I am thinking of brewing a lager to take advantage of the cold winter temperatures. After you have pitched the yeast and fermented at 10-15 degrees, can anyone explain the process after that. I understand that you need to lager at around three degrees for a period of time. Would you bottle it before doing this and how does it carbonate at a low temperature? Sorry for all the questions!

 

[Brianbrewed]

I have made a couple of shoddy lagers and they turned out great. I have pitched warm (20 degrees), put the fermenter in the shed and then kegged it and it came out great.
I think the key is no major temp changes.
Apparently German strain lager yeasts (I've used WHC Helles Fire & Mangrove Jacks M76) are more forgiving than other strains

If you are bottling I would carb at room temp then 'lager' in the bottle (if that makes sense).

 

[MickDundee]

After 7-10 days at the lower temperature, raise to about 18C (gradually by about 1C a day) then hold for 3 days or so. This will help eat up some of the diacetyl that lager yeasts are prone to creating.

Then reduce the temperature by about 2C a day until you get to 0-2C and hold for 2-4 weeks then package. Some people will rack of to secondary before lagering but I’ve never bothered (mainly because I use a conical fermenter so there’s less contact with the yeast.

 

[xozzx]

I have a lager going now (only my second attempt but first was good). My plan is:

- Made a starter and pitched at about 18C
- after first signs of activity (next morning) I dropped temp to 11C
These first 2 steps I read are good to get the yeast active and multiplying, you can then drop the temp quickly without any issues...
- Leave for 2 weeks at 11C
- Increase by 1C /day to 18C and hold for 3 days
- reduce by 2C / day to 3C for cold crash (hold for 2 days)
- Keg and store at 6C for 4+ weeks.

As I made a 60L batch I split it into 3 x 20L, one using liquid german lager yeast and as above and one using cali common yeast at 18C, will cold crash after 2 weeks and keg and another using Krispy yeast and have that pressure fermenting at room temp and 15psi. Will cold crash after 7-10 days and keg it.

I bought a B80 end of last year and been experimenting with different yeasts, Im looking forwards to comparing these beers once completed, wort going into each one was exactly the same so will be a good comparison.

 

[Flan]

I have a lager going now (only my second attempt but first was good). My plan is:

- Made a starter and pitched at about 18C
- after first signs of activity (next morning) I dropped temp to 11C
These first 2 steps I read are good to get the yeast active and multiplying, you can then drop the temp quickly without any issues...
- Leave for 2 weeks at 11C
- Increase by 1C /day to 18C and hold for 3 days
- reduce by 2C / day to 3C for cold crash (hold for 2 days)
- Keg and store at 6C for 4+ weeks.

As I made a 60L batch I split it into 3 x 20L, one using liquid german lager yeast and as above and one using cali common yeast at 18C, will cold crash after 2 weeks and keg and another using Krispy yeast and have that pressure fermenting at room temp and 15psi. Will cold crash after 7-10 days and keg it.

I bought a B80 end of last year and been experimenting with different yeasts, Im looking forwards to comparing these beers once completed, wort going into each one was exactly the same so will be a good comparison.

Quick question, do you find you need more than the usual 10g of yeast for a 20litre batch when fermenting at low temperatures.

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

Unless you have some reason for wanting to ferment cold you could use a warm fermenting California lager yeast. I use Mangrove Jacks M54 California Lager yeast and it’s really good - nothing like as temperamental as cold fermenting yeasts, no off-flavours, and ready to drink much sooner.

 

[Hanglow]

This has some good info, well worth reading
http://braukaiser.com/wiki/index.php/Fermenting_Lagers
The current trend in homebrewing tends to be for warm or very warm fermented lagers. There are some nice commercial beers that do this, like Schiehallion for example, but the best german lagers are of course all fermented cold and lagered for a long time, cold.

Your equipment will decide for you whether or not to lager in bulk or bottle, if you are fermenting in a bucket I would lager it in bottle


For yeast if you are fermenting at ale temps, then 1 pack will probably do, warm lager temps at about 12c then definitely two packs or more, traditional lager fermentation temps of 8c then I'd use four packs, as a rough guide for a standard strength lager.

 

[Flan]

This has some good info, well worth reading
http://braukaiser.com/wiki/index.php/Fermenting_Lagers
The current trend in homebrewing tends to be for warm or very warm fermented lagers. There are some nice commercial beers that do this, like Schiehallion for example, but the best german lagers are of course all fermented cold and lagered for a long time, cold.

Your equipment will decide for you whether or not to lager in bulk or bottle, if you are fermenting in a bucket I would lager it in bottle


For yeast if you are fermenting at ale temps, then 1 pack will probably do, warm lager temps at about 12c then definitely two packs or more, traditional lager fermentation temps of 8c then I'd use four packs, as a rough guide for a standard strength lager.

I plan on brewing a lager tomorrow but only have one 10g pack to start off, would it be a problem to pitch the one pack tomorrow and pitch another packet on Monday when my 2nd packet arrives or would it be better to pitch it both at the same time. I plan on fermenting at around 10-12° I’m using MJ Bavarian lager yeast M76

 

[Brianbrewed]

I would pitch at the same time.
I also re-hydrate my dry yeast, I see better results when I do this.

Theres full instruction on the on the Mangrove Jacks website

 

[xozzx]

Quick question, do you find you need more than the usual 10g of yeast for a 20litre batch when fermenting at low temperatures.

I use liquid yeast for cold fermented lagers and use brewfather to calculate the starter size. For Cali common yeast I'm fermenting warm and used 2 packs of yeast but only because it was just past its use by date.

 

[AXW123]

I tend to lager in the bottle as I don’t want a fermenting bucket in my fridge for months. I stick it in my storage in the garden over winter and forget about it. So hopefully ready for drinking in the summer.

 

[thesteve]

Thanks for the replies, good advice. My only concern is how do you get it to carbonate when it goes from say 13 degrees at fermentation then to maybe 2-3 degrees for lagering? Would I need to move the bottles into the warmth before I do the lagering bit or once it has lagered after a couple of weeks? I don't want to end up with flat beer.

 

[Flan]

If i was to condition in a secondary barrel and leave in the fridge for 6weeks then bottle am i right in thinking I don’t prime it until i bottle it. I don’t prime it in secondary do i? Sorry steve I don’t mean to hijack your post, it’s a really interesting read.

 

[Brianbrewed]

Don't prime until you bottle

 

[AXW123]

I move the bottles into the warm for a couple of weeks to carbonate. They would probably carbonate outside/in the cold as lager yeast will keep on working at lower temperatures but I prefer to be sure. After a few months they are well carbonated and extremely clear.

 

[Flan]

Don't prime until you bottle

So if i transfer to secondary then stash in the fridge at about 2° for 6 weeks then bottle and prime then condition at room temp for a couple of weeks then into fridge again with the bottles does that sound right.

 

[Brianbrewed]

That sounds right.

 

[GeorgieV]

I've only made one propper lager so far and I kegged it, so I can't give very useful advice but I have the feeling that if you lager for a few weeks most of the yeast would drop out of suspension. Wouldn't that make a subsequent bottle carbonation rather difficult?
I have a lager still in the primary at the moment and I'm thinking of cold crashing it, then bottle condition until fully carbonated and move it outside in the shed to lager for a few weeks.
Hope my neighbours don't read here as my shed doesn't lock

 

[Flan]

I've only made one propper lager so far and I kegged it, so I can't give very useful advice but I have the feeling that if you lager for a few weeks most of the yeast would drop out of suspension. Wouldn't that make a subsequent bottle carbonation rather difficult?
I have a lager still in the primary at the moment and I'm thinking of cold crashing it, then bottle condition until fully carbonated and move it outside in the shed to lager for a few weeks.
Hope my neighbours don't read here as my shed doesn't lock

This is what I’m wondering, prime bottle and condition then fridge or fridge then prime and bottle and condition.

 

[xozzx]

Ive never bottle conditioned lager but my thought would be to cold crash in the fermenter, bottle with priming sugar, store at "cool" temp about 15C for 2-3 weeks to carbonate then lager at 6C for 4+weeks.... I might be wrong but shouldnt go too far wrong with this