Lager brew = Stalled ferment.

[Megadethmaniac]

20 year brewer on and off.

Have always brewed kits ( wanting to get into Biab) and usually used barrels.

No longer able to get s30`s and with 2 failing barrels I`ve started bottling up. Anyway barreling i`ve never had an issue, brew out at about 2 weeks, maybe 3 and then pitch into the barrel. If too early the pressure release will take care of the worst of it and drop out some yeast which might be detrimental to flavor.

Since bottling 4 brews have gone to plan. Lovely. Nice carbonation Porter - still requires maturation at about 6 months, Muntons Gold went down nicely within 2 months Ctwch again nice fizz if overly hoppy for me but filling a couple of crates in the Garage. Admiral looks nice but not tried.

Anyway did a budget lager kit 4 weeks ago and fermentation seemed to go ok. Family issues prevented earlier bottling but I got round to it this weekend. All looked good flat surface so Off I go.

Bottled up C40 pints and syphoning was a pain. It would run initially very well but the further down the brew I got the more I lost syphon ( yes the tube was below the level of the brew!). Commenced priming as I always do s working along the bottles first- last and after 20 pints the brew seemed to get very active. To the point there after pitching the half teaspoon / full teaspoon (half/ full pint) the carbonation would be fizzing over the top finished bottling and this played on my mind so I checked the remaining brew which contained sediment which would increase the weight of the sample 1018 ish?

The brew based on that was shipped outside where temps will be over freezing but not much and today might be 10deg.

thinking about trying a half from early in the batch with the hydrometer. What would this with 2-3 g of sugar read if brewed out? ie 1008-10+?

Should I just pitch the lot back in the fermenter and try and restart fermentation?

Thanks

 

[NPi]

Was the original yeast a lager yeast, often those in budget kits are ale yeasts?

It sounds like you've bottled with some unfermented wort. Which if you've now added sugar could turn to be bottle Bombs. I'd say you could either decant all and put it back in the fermenter (risky due to hygiene) or leave the bottles as they are and carbonate slowly in a cool environment.

For me (I'm lazy) it would be the latter. If you do go this route, I'd suggest putting them in a cardboard box with a bin bag over, away from anything you don't want wet.

Good luck!

 

[johncrobinson]

A nice picture of your lord and master on your moniker

As npi says its all about the yeast.A true lager yeast will be happy at these temperatures an ale yeast will not.

I would be inclined to just leave it alone till its ready.

 

[Megadethmaniac]

Think it was a Geordie Lager kit, I can`t imagine the yeast was therefore anything other than a generic beer yeast as opposed to a lager yeast. The bottles are contained within boxes cardboard/ plastic with a heavy rug on them. Currently stored in the greenhouse.

Agree with NPI on 2 options, I`ve gone for -slow the brew as much as possible. The risk is that with the cold ( just over freezing temps outside when bottled) I will have killed the yeast. Worst case a sweet flat lager? I might just crack a bottle at the weekend and see just how fizzy it is.