[ynotbrusum]

I know award winning Brewers who chill lager wort down to mid-60's then pitch, wait for krausen to form, then lower down into the 50's for the balance of fermentation, then do a D-rest.  From there it is lowered a few degrees a day down to 32F for lagering.  Again, he wins awards with his lagers.  So you can make them in that manner, or do as noted above by starting below fermentation temperatures (which is what I do).  Sounds like an experiment for Marshall or Denny!

[HoosierBrew]

I know award winning Brewers who chill lager wort down to mid-60's then pitch, wait for krausen to form, then lower down into the 50's for the balance of fermentation, then do a D-rest.  From there it is lowered a few degrees a day down to 32F for lagering.  Again, he wins awards with his lagers.  So you can make them in that manner, or do as noted above by starting below fermentation temperatures (which is what I do).  Sounds like an experiment for Marshall or Denny!

Dumb question (given the awards) but, no more fruity esters than pitching at say 48 or 50?  I've heard other stories like this but it seems like it should produce fruitiness before the yeast stalls. Just curious.

[klickitat jim]

I prefer to chill to the temp I need and be done with it. And personally id rather overshoot and pitch at 45F with my controller set at 50F than undershoot and pitch at 55 with the controler set at 50.

[blair.streit]

The recent Brulosohpy experiment on pitching temps would give one reason to question the "higher temps equal more esters" dogma.

For the record I pitch lagers in the 40s and rise a few degrees to the desired fermentation temp.

That said, the results of that one experiment would at least make you think that consistency of temperature (or rising rather than falling) is as important.

I won't change what I do based on the results of one experiment, but it's certainly made me less certain that I fully understand why what I'm doing works. That makes me no less certain that it does work, but once you understand the why better avenues for improvement tend to reveal themselves.

[brulosopher]

Choose an easy yeast to work with. I only have about 6 lagers under my belt and have used W34/70 for each one. My first lager which was dramatically underpitched scored a 41. I have not had one issue and couldn't recommend this yeast enough for first time lager brewers.

I only recently realized 34/70, which is apparently the same strain as WLP830 and Wyeast 2124, recommends a max ferm temp of 71F. I went with 70 and folks couldn't distinguish it from the same beer fermented at 50. In fact, most of those who were right on the triangle thought the warm ferm beer was the one fermented cool.

http://brulosophy.com/2016/02/08/fermentation-temperature-pt-4-lager-yeast-saflager-3470-exbeeriment-results/

What can you tell us about your water?  Pale lagers are less forgiving about water problems.

Water, in my opinion, has a huge impact on beer character.

http://brulosophy.com/2015/04/06/water-chemistry-pt-1-mash-manipulation-exbeeriment-results/

Also given the timeframe you may want to consider using gelatin or some other fining to accelerate clearing before you package. Look at the Brulosophy article on gelatin - it's a great resource.


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Huge gelatin fan, use it in every batch!

http://brulosophy.com/2015/01/05/the-gelatin-effect-exbeeriment-results/

What's the best way to get the wort to 48-50F, set it in the fermentation chamber until you hit that range and then pitch? I never lagered either but I want to start.

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That's what I do

[ynotbrusum]

As to the award winner - he swears by 2206 as his favorite lager yeast, even for bocks.  We joke that if you enter a bock you are just fighting over second and third, because he wins that often.