Slow ferment ?

[Beer]

Have put a brew down yesterday evening, first one in nearly 12 months... because of the cold weather, did a black rock lager style wit a brew booster sugar pack (from brew master) and added a lager style yeast. Temp when adding yeast about 28 degrees, but has had a very slow start, barely bubbling, once every 3-4 mins. Is this normal for a lager style yeast (sat at around 17 degrees). Never used one before ??

[barls]

mate for starters, your temps are all f---ed up.
no warmer that 22 for ales and no warmer than 15 for lagers.
saying that are you sure the kit has a true lager yeast?
drop your temps and you wont get the headaches after a few beers.
also you will find them not so fruity in flavour

[Oliver]

I second everything that Barls says (except the profanity!).

I had a look on the Black Rock site and it doesn't mention that the yeast with the kit is a lager, so in the absence of any evidence to the contrary I would assume it's an ale yeast, which is what comes with most "lager" kits.

Therefore, it was a good idea to buy a lager yeast to ferment it with. What sort did you buy?

As an aside, the Black Rock site also says to, during fermentation, "keep the brew between 18-28degC". DO NOT DO THIS! You will end up with shocking beer if you ferment it at the top of that range, regardless of whether you use an ale or a lager yeast.

Note that activity in the air lock is not a reliable way to know whether the brew is fermenting. Check out "Common question: My brew is not fermenting".

Hope this helps. Let us know if you have any further questions.

Cheers,

Oliver