A couple questions in regard to lager fermentation and schedules people follow.
Primarily, I am interested in peoples thoughts/and what they have found to work best for lager fermentation.
*Assuming that the basics are taken care of - good recipe, water profile that is solid, mash ph, 90 minute boil, big/healthy yeast starter or repitch, temp control, chilled quickly to low 50's, etc.
*I am primarily thinking in terms of Bo-Pils, Helles, Dortmunder .....Urquell or Czech pils yeast. 2124 yeast. Danish Lager yeast. German Lager X yeast..... would be some of the main yeasts I am using.
1.) Question for the end of the boil and chilling...... cover, or no? If I have a good vigorous 90 minute boil how much danger is there of DMS from covering my pot while chilling with immersion chiller? Balancing the danger of contaminating wort post-boil, but don't want to cause DMS in the 10-15 minutes that it might take the wort to get down under 120-140.
2.) Fermenting. I see all types of fermentation schedules. Often, I see "3 weeks @ 50degrees" for instance. If my lager is hitting under 1.020 in 7-10 days...... would I be best off getting it at a higher temp (low 60's) for a D-rest while it is still fermenting. Does it do any good to have a D-rest at 2-3 weeks once fementation is basically complete?
3.) Are there other issues as far as the beer cleaning up flavors besides what I am thinking about so far? Basically, is there a reason to have a lager fermenting 14-21-28 days? Or, if active fermentation is complete at 7-12 days, and D-rest for a couple days....... is it best to get it in a keg and get it lagering as soon as possible.
Curious about what others do with their schedules. Any input would be appreciated and feel free to send me to a link if you know where some of this is already answered well. Thanks.