First Lager - advice request!

[Braufather]

After 5 years of brewing i am going to attempt my first lager. My favourite lager is Brooklyn's Vienna lager so seems a good place to start. ive a Few questions for those seasoned lager brewers out there

1) Do I have to worry about hot side aeration?
2) dry yeast v Liquid. does it matter i'm happy to use either.
3) i can also ferment under pressure but am unsure weather to do so - is there a compromise in doing so flavour wise?

Recipe here
https://byo.com/recipe/brooklyn-brewery-brooklyn-lager-clone/

Any advice from those with experience greatly appreciated.

 

[CaptAwol]

I've recently brewed my first lager a German pilsner which was pressure fermented in corny kegs, I brewed as normal with 60 min mash at 63°c 15 min at 70°c and 10 in rest at 75°c followed by 60 min boil. Dropped temperature to 28°c with chill plate, transfer to keg and rehydrate 1 packet of safale 34/70 to each keg. Fermented between 10-15psi at 28°c for a week, then crash cool.
I'm not a great fan of lager but it is nice and demolished 1 keg at the a camping weekend with friend who is fussy about his lager.

 

[Braufather]

Cheers capt. I may try something similar. Do you know if the is a ideal temp to ferment at Under pressure with that yeast?

 

[CaptAwol]

It seems that you can push the boundaries with fermentation temperature when pressure fermenting, and higher temps quicken the time, the recommended range was 9° - 22°c ideally 12° - 15°c it also recommended 1 packet was only for 10 - 15l but my kegs had 18+ in each. I went for 28°c as I'd seen a YouTube vid and were a guy had done this successfully, can't remember the name as I've been watching loads on YouTube.

 

[Dutto]

The best Lager I ever made was left for (I think) 10 weeks in the FV at 12*C, while I went on holiday!

I still carbonated and conditioned as per normal (2+2) when I returned home.

The finished product didn’t last long as I recall.
:hat:

 

[Nashbrew]

The best Lager I ever made was left for (I think) 10 weeks in the FV at 12*C, while I went on holiday!

I still carbonated and conditioned as per normal (2+2) when I returned home.

The finished product didn’t last long as I recall.
:hat:

Similar experience here. was not sure what I was going to get at 8 weeks + at 12*C ish but have made it several times since.
Goes down very well.

 

[Dutto]

Just had a look at history!

Please check out Dutto’s Brew Day, Posts around #70, #80 and #89 from 2017 to see what, when etc.

My memory seems to be intact: which is a miracle!
:hat:

 

[gyurmaember]

Similar experience here. was not sure what I was going to get at 8 weeks + at 12*C ish but have made it several times since.
Goes down very well.

And you can go even colder, if you have time. My last one was fermenting at 6 degrees for 5 weeks. Now it's lagering in the kegerator. I usually drink the leftover after kegging from a jug in the fridge. It's impressive so far.

 

[dmtaylor]

After 5 years of brewing i am going to attempt my first lager. My favourite lager is Brooklyn's Vienna lager so seems a good place to start. ive a Few questions for those seasoned lager brewers out there

1) Do I have to worry about hot side aeration?
2) dry yeast v Liquid. does it matter i'm happy to use either.
3) i can also ferment under pressure but am unsure weather to do so - is there a compromise in doing so flavour wise?

Recipe here
https://byo.com/recipe/brooklyn-brewery-brooklyn-lager-clone/

Any advice from those with experience greatly appreciated.

Lagers aren't as difficult as you might think. Extra patience with them helps though. Lager yeasts will often throw diacetyl and sulfur earlier in fermentation, which often last for about 3-4 weeks average, then disappear without any special actions needed from the brewer, all that is really needed is patience. And I purposely say "often", because it's NOT "always" with either the sulfur or the diacetyl. Sometimes/often, not always. Specific responses:

1) It is helpful to take reasonable attempts to limit hot side aeration. However, jury is still out from person to person as to whether extreme precautions, a.k.a., LODO, is actually super beneficial. Personally, I honestly really just am not sure. Run some experiments yourself if you are interested.

2) I have made excellent lagers with Diamond, S-189, and W-34/70. However if I want the best lagers possible, I'll still reach for 2206 or WLP833 on occasion. The liquid yeasts still have a little edge on the dried versions. But it's not a wide margin. These dried yeasts are great.

3) Pressure fermentation is a nice fad right now. I'm not at all convinced that it's important, as I have tasted dozens of excellent lagers fermented at standard pressure.

By the way... for several batches now, I've been fermenting lagers near room temperature, with great results, very clean and really no off-flavors compared against cold ferments. I am questioning whether cold fermentation is truly necessary at all. More experiments are needed to confirm... which I will happily consume.

Cheers.

 

[Braufather]

Cheers, some good tips there for me.