So my lager has been in the temp controlled fridge at 12C for 10 days now, smells yeasty!
Should I increase the temp for the last few days; by say, 1C per day?
I like to use secondary and definitely will this time as there is a massive yeast trub at the bottom of the FV. I was thinking of transferring to secondary then leaving in the shed for a week or so to drop bright, this is the coldest place I have (colder than the fridge at present), is this likely to leave enough viable yeast to produce fizz when bottling?
For this lager I used a stepped mash, which was a bit of a faff, going to make another one which I will mash normally, do people usually do this at 60C?
lager
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Chard
Re: lager
dont know about the temp controling. that requires more eqiupment than i can afford at the moment.
as for the yeast issue...try krausening.
when you rack into secondary take a sample into a large sterilised bottle (wine bottle or 1tlr bottle). then seal that and put it in the fridge. let the rest of it drop clear for as long as you want. then when you get to bottling shake your bottle up to resuspend the yeast and pour into the bottling bucket with some priming sugar then syphon the rest ontop to mix it all in! you then definately have yeast for bottle conditioning but not so much that you have to leave loads of beer in the bottle to avoid a cloudy beer when you pour.
this is a technique i read about in one of dave lines books except he used finings rather than letting it clear on its own. i kind of tried it before and it was successful but ive never tried it on a full 5gal brewlength.
as for the yeast issue...try krausening.
when you rack into secondary take a sample into a large sterilised bottle (wine bottle or 1tlr bottle). then seal that and put it in the fridge. let the rest of it drop clear for as long as you want. then when you get to bottling shake your bottle up to resuspend the yeast and pour into the bottling bucket with some priming sugar then syphon the rest ontop to mix it all in! you then definately have yeast for bottle conditioning but not so much that you have to leave loads of beer in the bottle to avoid a cloudy beer when you pour.
this is a technique i read about in one of dave lines books except he used finings rather than letting it clear on its own. i kind of tried it before and it was successful but ive never tried it on a full 5gal brewlength.
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Kev75
Re: lager
I'm doing a Carlsberg Elephant Beer (mainly for the challenge and the technical side rather than for the 7.4% ABV lager! 
That was brewed with English Lager Malt using a single temp infusion mash method at 65C.
Honestly, it was so much easier than trying the tripple infusion mash method that I bet you tried!
At every stage its proved easier than previous lager attempts and from the samples I've had (e.g. when going to secondary), it looks, smells and tastes fantastic. I doubt that anyone would notice that I didn't use pilsner malt for this brew but then at 7.4% I doubt many would give a hoot about it! (or anything else!) I always pitch 2 x 11.5 sachets of Saflager S23 for a 23 ltr brew as this gives a good yeast cake and ensures enough yeast in suspension at the end of secondary fermentation. Then its bottle primed at room temp (18 - 22C)for two weeks before out in the cold for as long as I can stand before patience gets the better of me.
Regards
Kev
That was brewed with English Lager Malt using a single temp infusion mash method at 65C.
Honestly, it was so much easier than trying the tripple infusion mash method that I bet you tried!
At every stage its proved easier than previous lager attempts and from the samples I've had (e.g. when going to secondary), it looks, smells and tastes fantastic. I doubt that anyone would notice that I didn't use pilsner malt for this brew but then at 7.4% I doubt many would give a hoot about it! (or anything else!) I always pitch 2 x 11.5 sachets of Saflager S23 for a 23 ltr brew as this gives a good yeast cake and ensures enough yeast in suspension at the end of secondary fermentation. Then its bottle primed at room temp (18 - 22C)for two weeks before out in the cold for as long as I can stand before patience gets the better of me.
Regards
Kev