Lager - five weeks too long in the tub?

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BarryNL

Lager - five weeks too long in the tub?

Post by BarryNL » Wed Aug 01, 2007 3:07 pm

I'm making my first AG lager - it's currently fermenting away slowly at about 12deg.C. I'm planning to leave it in there for about five weeks (by which time I'll be back from holiday). Is this too long to leave it in the primary (dreaded autolysis) or should it be OK?

Frothy

Post by Frothy » Wed Aug 01, 2007 4:31 pm

Is it refrigerated? To produce a proper lager you really need to get that down to 4oc or less once the gravity has dropped between 1.010 and 1.020. 5 weeks at the colder temperature would be ideal but if it hasn't fermented out I'd turn it down to something like 8-10oc for a happy medium, so that it can continue to ferment but slowly.

Frothy

BarryNL

Post by BarryNL » Wed Aug 01, 2007 10:23 pm

Well, the yeast suggests 10-14 deg (Wyeast 2278), so I guess the ferment needs to stay around 12. The o.g. is 1.046 so I guess it should hit around 1.012

Once it gets there (hopefully before I go on hols) I'll try taking it down to 4 deg. C for a few weeks.

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