G'day Folks, help with 1st Lager (Asahi clone attempt)

[Rob E]

G'day Everyone,

What a top site this is. I am pretty new to brewing, took it up just recently after i bought dad a Tooheys starter kit for Christmas, well he has done 4 with some success so i got started not long after! What a great hobby this is.

My first brew was the Coopers Canadian Blonde with Brew Enhancer 1, its maturing nicely and i am happy with how that has gone.

I am now well into the 2nd brew, which is an Asahi clone attempt (love the Japanese beers got hooked after living there) anyway, i went with this recipe and have crossed the fingers...

Coopers Lager
Brew Enhancer 2
500gm Rice Malt extract
Saflager S23
Dry Enzyme

OG was at 1055 and has been fermenting in the newly acquired brew fridge at 10-12 degrees C for 5 days now and the airlock is opening regularly.

Now, my real concern is what to do with the Lager once the primary fermentation is complete, i intend to bottle ferment, however the question is at what temperature? is room Temp OK? for say a week or two, and then Lager for a few weeks at 2-4 degrees?

I would really apreciate your input lads about the next step with this

Cheers
Rob

[Chris]

Ok, you're a bit off base.

When your primary fermentation is done, you must rack the beer into another container (another fermenter or a plastic cube etc).

Rack for a week or so (at 10-12*C), then drop the temperature down to 4*C. Allow to lager for a few weeks.

At this point, allow the brew to come to room temp, prime and bottle. Keep the bottles at 10-12*C for 3-4 weeks, then store for 2-3 months.

That is lager.

[Rob E]

Thanks for the tip Chris...... Lagers seem like hard work Guess it will be Ales from here on

[MattR]

Hi Rob,

I just started my first lager too and I ask the same question here, http://www.homebrewandbeer.com/forum/vi ... php?t=2318. I'm confused with the difference between lagering and cold conditioning. Perhaps they are the same.

Cheers,
Matt

[Chris]

Cold conditioning is to do with an ale. It is generally much shorter than the lagering process.

[Oliver]

Lagers seem like hard work Guess it will be Ales from here on

Rob,

There's absolutely no reason you can't make a lager without cold conditioning/lagering.

The benefit of the lagering may be a better beer, but you won't end up with a bad beer by any stretch if you omit that step.

Same goes for racking.

Cheers,

Oliver

[NickMoore]

try this: http://www.howtobrew.com/section1/chapter8-3.html

[Aussie Claret]

Befor you rack to secondary take the fermenter out of the fridge and allow to warm upto about 20c for 2 days (diacetyl rest).
This helps the yeast clear that toffee / buttery taste which is not a characteristic of lagers.

After the rest, rack to secondary then cold condition in the fridge for as long as you can, a bare minimum of 2 weeks but the longer the better 4-6 weeks you'll see heaps of benefit. If you bottle, allow the bottled beer to sit for about 2 weeks at room temps to carbonate then back in the fridge for further conditioning.

I've made lagers with the S23 and although it is a true lager yeast leaves a fruity ester taste, not as clean and crisp as W34/70.

AC

[Paul Bennett]

When you use dry-beer enzyme, you absolutely must get a steady final specific gravity reading running over three days to guarantee that fermentation has finished. Somewhere, I have written an article about exploding bottles caused by bottling before fermentation is complete, and using dry-beer enzyme makes it difficult to know when you are there. With enzyme, the fermentation takes up to a week longer, even if it has stopped bubbling. So - warning - make SURE you have a FSG reading exactly the same over three days before you bottle.