LAGER - COCKED UP........???

[pads72]

Pull yourself together Louis. This sounds like my kind of beer.

That made me laugh!
+1

[louiscowdroy]

Hahahaha, well I didn't use a starter either, with it only being 17 lts and all.

So, ive checked the fridge this morning and it looks as dead as.......still, might take a day or two to get going, fingers crossed.......lol.

[AnthonyD]

Other, highy experienced and capable brewers may disagree with me here, but starters need to be about 2x the size as normal for lagers, as you are fermenting cold.

I pitched the trub from 3L's into 17L last week.

I'd leave it twice as long as usual to see if it takes off before panicing and pitching extra yeast!

[louiscowdroy]

Other, highy experienced and capable brewers may disagree with me here, but starters need to be about 2x the size as normal for lagers, as you are fermenting cold.

I pitched the trub from 3L's into 17L last week.

I'd leave it twice as long as usual to see if it takes off before panicing and pitching extra yeast!

Yeah your right I know this now lol......I will check again this morning. I'm testing and adjusting the temp on the fridge to get it at optimum temp........will see if there's any movement.

[louiscowdroy]

Checked temp and is sitting nicely at 12 degrees....fermentation is well underway, so that 1 vile was enough I think for 17 litres........

Will keep you all posted, i'll be honest, I didn't really realise how blummin long a Lager actually takes to produce properly.......Well I suppose its one for the spring.....lol.

[Belter]

A fermentation being underway doesn't mean that one packet was enough. It may produce the best beer in the world and I hope it does but under pitching will have its affect on flavour, sometimes in a good way. Seeing yeast fermenting doesn't mean they're doing a perfect job.

[louiscowdroy]

A fermentation being underway doesn't mean that one packet was enough. It may produce the best beer in the world and I hope it does but under pitching will have its affect on flavour, sometimes in a good way. Seeing yeast fermenting doesn't mean they're doing a perfect job.

That's a fair point, so I pitched another vile today this morning to assist in the primary fermentation of the beer, lets hope that it will do the trick, only time will tell ) Here's fingers crossed ....lol

[Pinto]

Remember also that true, bottom fermenting lager strains will show very little in the way of traditional fermetation signs - and that includes the lack of any Krausen - and CO2 in lager temp worts is far more soluable so you might not see much in the way of bubbles. Trust your hydrometer and keep an eye on the SG; it'll tell you what you need to know

[Barley Water]

My normal routine is to make up a 3 liter starter before making a normal gravity lager, 5 gallon batch (I pour off the liquid on top of the starter and just pitch the slurry of course). If you under pitch three things might happen and two of them are bad. First off, your beer can under attenuate (this has happened to me). Second, the beer will ferment but the yeast will throw off some by products because you have stressed it which ruins the smooth lager flavor you are looking for (this has also happened to me on higher gravity lagers). Finally I guess you could get lucky and it will come out great (but I don't tend to get lucky myself). When running a lager fermentation everything will happen more slowly however you should generally see some action within a couple of days or you likely have a problem. If this is your first go-round with lager yeast I can almost guarantee that you will learn some stuff that will vastly improve your brewing both with ales and lagers. By the way, take advantage of that big yeast cake from your first batch, it virtually eliminates the "under pitching problem" if you use that yeast on a subsequent batch (and in fact I am in the middle of doing exactly that right now).