Lager Fermentation Temperatures

[terrym]

I am taking advantage of the cold weather to brew my second lager. Using lager yeast the first one struggled at 15*C and so I finished the majority of the fermentation at 19*C. This time I have used more lager yeast and after pitching at 20*C, allowing to cool to 15*C, a few more hours at 15*C before the airlock was bubbling away, I dropped the temperature in the water bath to 13.5*C, and there has been a healthy fermentation going on since. Now at day four, the bubble rate is just starting to drop and I am wondering what to do next, especially since I don't want to end up with a stuck brew. I will also be dry hopping at room temperature for four days then crash cool for 2 days before packaging. I will ultimately cold condition/lager in bottles in a fridge.
Anyway, the options appear to be, with an allowance of 3/4 days at 19*C before I dry hop
- leave it until it stops then raise the temperature to 19*C , fine but I don't want it stuck
- let it almost finish then progressively raise the temperature to 19*C
- carry on until it is noticeably slower then just go for 19*C
So what would others do?

 

[BeerCat]

What i do is pitch cold. At the moment that would be about 7c then i let it rise to 10.5c. You do need a lot of yeast and it might take 24 hours to get going. It will appear to be slower than an ale as well. Once fermentation slows and half the gravity is achieved you can raise it up to 18/19c. Personally i don't bother to take readings as i have done a few now and not had a problem. Then i have a taste and if its clean then crash to 0c and add finings a few days later. Leave a few more days and bottle. I dont tend to dry hop my lagers but i have done so before crashing. Some people say they do it after but never tried that and you would have to raise the beer temp then lower it again. Not sure how clear it would be or if it bothers you. I like my lagers clear, dont mind murky ales.

 

[strange-steve]

Do you have reason to believe it will stick? My last lager I kept at 10° for 4 weeks and it fermented out completely. Saying that, after 4 days you should be fine to raise the temperature without any ill effects, if you are concerned. If you have the ability to do it gradually, say a couple of degrees per day, it'd be easier on the yeast.

 

[Drunkula]

Do a search on Brulosophy and lager temperatures. They seem to debunk with most yeasts that the brewing needs to be done at a lower temperature. You can brew it out and then lager at a lower temperature but fermenting cold seems like it's really not necessary.

 

[terrym]

Do a search on Brulosophy and lager temperatures. They seem to debunk with most yeasts that the brewing needs to be done at a lower temperature. You can brew it out and then lager at a lower temperature but fermenting cold seems like it's really not necessary.

Well that's an interesting theory, I did take a brief look. My cynical comment would be why haven't the commercial brewers cottoned on to this? It must cost the brewing industry big bucks every year to ferment lagers at low teens temperatures, especially if the brewery is located in a hot climate.
Anyway for my humble brew I decided to slowly increase the water bath temperature, by a degree every 12 hours, which means that it should be about 19*C in two days time and probably co-incident with the primary being pretty much over, judging by the falling off of the bubble rate.

 

[foxbat]

Anyway for my humble brew I decided to slowly increase the water bath temperature, by a degree every 12 hours, which means that it should be about 19*C in two days time and probably co-incident with the primary being pretty much over, judging by the falling off of the bubble rate.

Coincidentally that's exactly what I'm doing right now in the brew fridge. 1 degree per 12 hours up to 20C for the d-rest then cold crash before bottling. Which yeast are you using? I was down from 1.047 -> 1.010 in 5 days at 12C with a 2.5l pitch of Omega OYL-114.

 

[terrym]

Coincidentally that's exactly what I'm doing right now in the brew fridge. 1 degree per 12 hours up to 20C for the d-rest then cold crash before bottling. Which yeast are you using? I was down from 1.047 -> 1.010 in 5 days at 12C with a 2.5l pitch of Omega OYL-114.

My brew is based on a Coopers Euro lager which comes with a lager yeast which I used, to which I supplemented yeast from a Coopers AuPA kit which is a half ale-half lager yeast mix. My OG was 1.043, but I have yet to take another SG reading.

 

[svenito]

Well that's an interesting theory, I did take a brief look. My cynical comment would be why haven't the commercial brewers cottoned on to this? It must cost the brewing industry big bucks every year to ferment lagers at low teens temperatures, especially if the brewery is located in a hot climate.

Just listened to this podcast, if you fast forward to around 1:02:30 they talk about breeding new strains that ferment cleaner at higher temperatures. Then proceed to talk about higher lager fermentation temps are ok at homebrew level, but at commerical volumes they still have to keep the temp low to keep the resulting beer clean.

https://www.experimentalbrew.com/podcast/episode-59-yeast-mysteries-sui-generis

 

[Drunkula]

Wish I could find the dead link to Bamforth's page at the bottom of this:

http://beergraphs.com/bg/212-why-budweister-probably-doesnt-take-30-days-to-bre/

I did read something about somebody commercially not using low temperatures for lagers but can't remember where it was. It might have been 21st Amendment and Tasty McDole. I listen to so many podcasts and read so much stuff it gets muddled.