First Dunkel - FG 1.016

[morepunk]

I've been monitoring the fermentation of my first ever lager; a Munich Dunkel which has been slowly fermenting for a few weeks.

The fermentation has taken longer than with any ale I've ever brewed - I'm assuming that may be normal with lagers? I've used WLP830 at 11C

The biggest surprise is that fermentation seems to have stopped at 1.016. OG was fairly high at 1.062 but I still expected an FG of around 1.012.

I know we're not talking about a huge difference here, but does this seem right? Would welcome input from anyone with lots of lager experience!


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[MyQul]

Did you make a starter and how much yeast did you use. Lagers generally need twice as much yeast as ale. If you just used 1 white labs pitchable pack that'll be why it's stuck

 

[morepunk]

I did make a starter, but I did only use 1 pitchable pack...


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[MyQul]

How long have you been fermenting it, as I'm sure your aware, lagers take longer to ferment because of the cooler temps

 

[morepunk]

I don't have the date to hand, but I'd say we're pushing 4 weeks to get to the gravity it's at now, and it's now been stable for a few days


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[The Idiot]

Leave it be. Give it another couple of weeks at least. Lagering can take up to 8 weeks and it's the last few weeks that are the most important! Forget the FG, that's not the whole story. If you don't let the yeast slowly clean up you'll have a lager that has unwanted off-tastes due to by-products.

 

[morepunk]

Thank you. I'm in the process of bringing it up for a diacetyl rest. Following this, should the cold crash and layering be done in the FV, or in the keg/bottles with the priming sugar? I'm finding conflicting reports online


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[Simonh82]

If you are rising the temperature for a diacetyl then you should be OK. If there is anything left to ferment then the raise in temperature should help finish it off.

What temperature did you mash at.

 

[morepunk]

Steady mash at 66C


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