Lager - 30/12/08

[Jonnyv]

Seems to be the weather for lagering at the moment so thought I'd try brewing a lager. I have my fridge set up with a thermostatic immersion heater & ATC800 to control fermentation temp and yesterday I made a starter of some old Brewferm lager yeast I've had in the fridge since January - currently fermenting well - rather surprising

Based on 70% efficiency, OG 1.052 - I'm boiling for two hours as I'm struggling to get a decent hot break at the moment - resulting in some chill-hazed beers - not great for a lager. I've also insulated the boiler to get a harder boil.

The grist:

4.00kg British Lager Malt
0.40kg Flaked Maize
0.40kg Carahell (was going to use Carapils/Dextrine but didn't have any)

Adding 0.40kg Glucose to the boiler to thin it out a bit.

Hops:
50g Saaz (4%) at 120min

Yeast:
24g of Brewferm lager yeast, started, to be pitched at 12 degrees.

Once I've figured out how to get photos off my phone I'll post some blurry pics :)

 

[Jonnyv]

Had major evaporation issues today - what with it being so cold outside. Still, I managed to hit the OG spot-on but was 3l under target volume :hmm: - My efficiency seems to change every brew - not sure where my process is going awry. I did get a monster amount of hot & cold break so I'm hoping this one will come up crystal clear when it's done.

Bluetooth with the phone isn't working so I'll post pics when I've fixed that.

 

[Wez]

Nice one JV - looking forward to the pics :thumb:

 

[Jonnyv]

Sorted out my phone to transfer files via bluetooth - so here are some pics & an update at the end:

The Grist:

The somewhat badly insulated boiler, which boiled over and has made the bubble wrap nice & sticky:

Underletting the mash tun - I find I get a more consistent mash with this approach:

Mashed in, temp at 66 degrees:

The Brewferm Lager yeast starter I made a couple of days before brewday. Nice to see the yeast doing it's job despite being over a year out of date:

Boiling, whack in the Saaz:

Post-boil, OG at 1.052 - although it looks higher here :hmm:

The more-than usual amount of trub:

This is what happens when you leave your IC out overnight in winter

Update:
Fermenting nicely now - down to around 1.030 last night so I'm expecting another week or so, then I'll raise the temp to 15-16 degrees for a diacetyl rest for a few days.

Once kegged I'm going to have to disconnect the fridge from ATC800 to get a lower temperature than 5 degrees for lagering purposes. Or maybe I rely on the weather to be chilly for the new month or two :pray:

I've had a taster, it's still rather sweet, and I can definitely taste the flaked maize in there :sick: hopefully that'll mellow a bit :? I'm hoping the lagering process will clear up the flavour dramatically.

Fingers crossed.

 

[Wez]

Nice pic's Jv looks like a good brewday :thumb:

 

[A T]

Great set of pics JV Surprisingly good for a camera phone

 

[Vossy1]

Gerat pics Jv, hope it turns out to be a good'un :thumb:

 

[highwayman]

Looks great..I have only mashed a Kolsch and that was brilliant. Will you pm or post how it turns out with photo of your finished product please

 

[Jonnyv]

Looks great..I have only mashed a Kolsch and that was brilliant. Will you pm or post how it turns out with photo of your finished product please

Yep no worries - it's got a couple more days in the FV then a few days for a diacetyl rest at a higher temperature then it'll be ready for kegging/bottling. After that it'll be lagering for a couple of months... man these lagers take a lot of effort! :)

 

[BrewStew]

that looks awesome :thumb:

is that super bright yellow in the grist the maize or carahell?

having never seen nor used either i'd be curious to know what effect they have on a brew

 

[Jonnyv]

is that super bright yellow in the grist the maize or carahell?

having never seen nor used either i'd be curious to know what effect they have on a brew

The bright yellow stuff is the flaked maize. The carahell is slightly darker than the lager malt - you can just about make it out in the grist photo.

The maize will give the lager a subtle corn type flavour which i find detectable in lagers like Kronenbourg. The carahell should promote good head formation & retention - I believe it's very similar to Carapils but kilned off slightly hotter.

 

[Jonnyv]

This has fermented further than I first estimated. It's at 1.006 which means it's 6% - I was aiming for 5.5% ish, let's hope the bitterness is enough to balance it.

I'll be turning up the temperature to 18 degrees over the next 24 hours for three days, then racking.