AG#10 - Benson's Semi-Mature Lager (Budvar Clone)

[Gricey]

I will check, out atm. Agree, will raise if its sluggish and have a rest at the end to clean up the popcorn

[Gricey]

1.034/35 today, smells like I've been led to expect (sulphur, etc). Not seen anything in the way of bubbling but hey, I guess its just being slow. So thats 20 points in 5 days, not too sure what I'm looking for finishing wise, if its as per Wyeast's stats (71-75% AA), then I'm going to be looking for 1.015-1.018 or there abouts? Seems a little high, but not made a lager before?

[EoinMag]

1.034/35 today, smells like I've been led to expect (sulphur, etc). Not seen anything in the way of bubbling but hey, I guess its just being slow. So thats 20 points in 5 days, not too sure what I'm looking for finishing wise, if its as per Wyeast's stats (71-75% AA), then I'm going to be looking for 1.015-1.018 or there abouts? Seems a little high, but not made a lager before?

I just plugged it into Brewtarget and got an end gravity of 1.017, maybe the vienna is keeping it high, it might end up a bit sweet according to them.

Mine got down to 1.011 so I'm not sure where your residual sugars are coming from, but then it was a 100% pils malt my side.

That said I was going with a preboil volume of 29l dropping to 23l post boil, so that maybe wrong.

[Gricey]

Numbers I'm going on are the 1.063 OG and the 71-75% attenuation cited by the Wyeast site about the 2000 strain I used. I am going to leave it another week, it was still busy in the sample I took, and see where we are. Doesnt need to be ready til some point in July anyway, so if I work backwards - 4 weeks in bottles, X time lagering in secondary. Looking at sites like http://beerme.com/diacetyl.php it almost seems like I can now raise the temp a degree a day for a week before lagering, to finish off ferment and clean up diacetyl... any experience with that? Will double check my yeast book as well, I think any off flavours from high initial temp are avoided by now.

[EoinMag]

I actually notice no diacetyl with the same yeast, it is a low diacetyl producer, I also pitched about 18c so relatively high for the strain.

I didn't do a rest.

Taste a sample and see does it need a diacetyl rest, if you taste butter or a slick mouthfeel then you might do well to introduce the rest.

[Gricey]

Will do in a bit, still have my sample sat out. If I wait another week in primary it will still give me 6 weeks lagering time and 4 weeks in bottles before its deadline

[Gricey]

Oh yeah - diacetyl city! Looks like I will be bumping it up a few degrees at the end of primary.

[EoinMag]

Interesting then, it appears the diacetyl production must be influenced by the pitch rate. I pitched very high, possibly even overpitched a little, that said I was less concerned with overpitching a lager, but I got absolutely no sulphur and no diacetyl.

[Gricey]

Yeah, need to reread that bit of the yeasty book, but I think also your starter temp and pitching temp will have made a big difference also. Yeast clean up those compounds when theyre very active, but if I've gone solid 10/11º all the way, they aren't going to be very active at all...

[EoinMag]

Yeah, need to reread that bit of the yeasty book, but I think also your starter temp and pitching temp will have made a big difference also. Yeast clean up those compounds when theyre very active, but if I've gone solid 10/11º all the way, they aren't going to be very active at all...

My starter was grown at room temps in my ensuite bathroom, so there was no control used at that point. The pitching temp was about 18c and dropped overnight or so to 9c. I did have to pour off all the nasty starter wort and it was very clovey. I got down to final gravity also in ten days, possibly due to the amount of yeast.

[Gricey]

Ah well! Thanks for the help so far, I'll see what the crack is in 3 or 4 days anyway. I'm sure it will be fine, if not I'll raise 1ºC per day for a couple of days, and check diacetyl afterwards.

[EoinMag]

I have to admit that for me it's ben more than just giving you help, I'm sharing my present experience and comparing it quite happily to yours, it's helping me by having a comparison based on the same yeast and a similar type beer. So thanks to you too for that

[Gricey]

We should swap a beer at the end!

[EoinMag]

We should swap a beer at the end!

The issue is that no carriers will carry beers or liquids accross the water, unless you have a deal with them like the HBS stores. If you have a way then let me know.

[Gricey]

ill just put one in a PET bottle and wang it in the post - where abouts are you?