Which Saflager???

[Davebispham81]

hi all im planning on buying a coopers lager kit tomorrow and a proper lager yeast as im told the silver packets are crap. the shop im gonna be buying from has S-23 and w34/70, does it matter which one i go for and what is the difference between the two. :wha:

thanks in advance

dave.

 

[markp]

Have you got a way of controlling the fermentation temperature??

 

[Davebispham81]

ermm... no, but im sure i can sort something out, its always cold in the stone shed out back, is it important?

 

[luckyeddie]

hi all im planning on buying a coopers lager kit tomorrow and a proper lager yeast as im told the silver packets are crap. the shop im gonna be buying from has S-23 and w34/70, does it matter which one i go for and what is the difference between the two. :wha:

thanks in advance

dave.

From a pitching and fermenting perspective, there is no difference.

W34/70: http://www.fermentis.com/fo/pdf/HB/EN/S ... 470_HB.pdf

S23: http://www.fermentis.com/fo/pdf/HB/EN/S ... -23_HB.pdf

The weather forecast is for it to get much warmer. What might be worth considering is to stand your FV in a receptacle containing cold water, then to put a soaking wet tee shirt on the FV so that the bottom of it is sitting in the water. Capillary action will draw more water up into the tee shirt - this will then slowly evaporate. In order to do so, it needs to 'steal' heat (it's called 'latent heat of vaporisation') - and where it will steal it from is your FV. Hey presto, you have now built a DIY fridge - and with it, you should have a cooler fermentation. If you put a fan in front of it so that it blows air across the tee shirt, it will cool it even more.

You can certainly get a 5C temperature reduction just with the tee shirt - and perhaps as much as 10C by using a fan.

(make sure you switch the fan on - it works better that way)

 

[Davebispham81]

thanks for the links luckyeddie that was just what i wanted to know, good idea with the t-shirt, we did something similar with out water bottles (and some times even a can of coke) back in Iraq only we stuffed em in a spare black sock and kept pouring water on em

reading those links has led me to ask what is probably gonna be a very silly question.... Does HIGH SEDIMENTATION mean there will be alot of sediment when i finishes fermenting and what does it matter if it all drops to the bottom of the FV anyway???

 

[Aleman]

I prefer the W34/70 to the S-23 Both make good lagers if you pitch enough

High sedimentation means that they settle out readily . . .nothing to do with the amount of yeast you get

 

[Davebispham81]

Thanks Aleman , i suppose it wasn`t such a silly question after all, i think ill go with the W34/70.

 

[shearclass]

What might be worth considering is to stand your FV in a receptacle containing cold water, then to put a soaking wet tee shirt on the FV so that the bottom of it is sitting in the water.

I knew there was a reason Muntons sent me an over sized free tshrot when i complained about one of their kits!

This post could actually be very useful to me, cheers Eddie

 

[luckyeddie]

What might be worth considering is to stand your FV in a receptacle containing cold water, then to put a soaking wet tee shirt on the FV so that the bottom of it is sitting in the water.

I knew there was a reason Muntons sent me an over sized free tshrot when i complained about one of their kits!

This post could actually be very useful to me, cheers Eddie

Good man. Others on the forum have started using this trick, and have reported pretty good results. I shall do it myself when my brother-in-law has done the plumbing for my completely built from the ground up mash tun and I brew him a lager as payment.

His knowledge of beers (and taste) is severely limited. I asked him what he wanted and he said 'something like Bud would be great'. I said 'I can do that in 10 seconds' and poured him a glass of water.

I'm not sure when he will finish the manifold - he is actually a plumber and they tend to keep you waiting for weeks anyway.

 

[shearclass]

His knowledge of beers (and taste) is severely limited. I asked him what he wanted and he said 'something like Bud would be great'. I said 'I can do that in 10 seconds' and poured him a glass of water.

I'm not sure when he will finish the manifold - he is actually a plumber and they tend to keep you waiting for weeks anyway.

I used to like bud, but i can't bare it now. I quite like lager, but if i was going for something commercial it would have to be Heineken, or something with a little flavour. Even Stella. Not a fan of american lager, in fact i think Millers is disgusting.

Back to the point, do you know what temperature larger shoudl be 'largered' at? I know what temp to ferment at, but at what temp should it be stored ideally afterwards? i have one bucket sitting at about 14c in my girlfriends unused extension, is that low enough? What are the problems of the temp being to high when lagering?

 

[luckyeddie]

It ideally wants to be chilled down to around 2 or 3 degrees C. And left for a couple of months. There are others on this site who know far more about lagers than I do (actually, Ella the brewery cat knows more about lager than I do). This is why I have decided to let my brother in law stew for a couple of weeks while I try out the equipment on a witbier tomorrow (glances at clock) I mean today.

Try the 'wet tee shirt' method of chilling to get the temperature down if you don't have a fridge for lagering. It might work on your girlfriend too (hubba hubba)

Heineken is fine - and the brewery trip is a lot of fun.

 

[micmacmoc]

Alternatively keep an eye out for a second hand fridge, mine only cost me £20. Thats less than 40 pints of lager would have cost me!

 

[Good Ed]

I got one off ebay for £22, you just have to be patient, as some of the basic fridges were going for £30-£40

It's handy having a fridge, you can then add some temperature control and a heating device (simplest is a light bulb) and you've got a fermenting cupboard, (another project on the list)

 

[shearclass]

When you say fridge, do you just mean any old household fridge?

Must be abel to get an old battered one of them quite easily.

Currently living with my parents and have already taken up half the garage with beer stuff. Will have to bring a fridge in durign the night when they aren't looking.

I'm intrigued by this, would it just be used as a fermenting cupboard to keep something a constant temperature, because it is insulated?

:hmm:

 

[Good Ed]

Just an ordinary fridge, mine's an undercounter one without an ice box. I can just fit my FV bucket with airlock in, and can get it down to 4C. I keep my yeast starters in it also. I'm sure you can sneak a fridge in while no one is looking :whistle:

If you do some searching around on this forum, I'm sure you'll find what to do. I can't help you much more cos I haven't done anything to mine yet.

 

[luckyeddie]

I now have 2 fridges in my store room (spare bedroom) - one for yeasties and hops and various other perishable bits and bobs. The new one (I got it yesterday) is just going to be used for lagering.