Do you warm up after lagering?

[TheLastSuppa]

I've got a lager thats been racked off in a barrel in the shed for the last two months. I am planning on bottling it at the weekend, but I think I'll have to add some fresh yeast as the wee fellas may not have withstood the arctic temperatures over Christmas.

I will just rehydrate some ale yeast for bottling, but do I need to add a whole pack of so4? This seems like a lot and a waste to me. Also I don't want to shock the yeast by adding it to 4C lager, so should I warm the lager up before adding the yeast. This seems like the sensible thing to do. I'm not sure though if I bring it in to the house for a couple of days to warm up, will I undo all the good done by lagering and put the chill haze forming proteins back in to suspension?

What do you guys do?

[dedken]

Now, I'm no expert but I've read on this forum recently a few times that conditioning a lager is similar to conditioning an ale - you do it at room temperature initially for a week. The only difference being that you do have to add yeast if you've been lagering. I don't know how much though but I'd be grateful to know the answer as I'll be asking the question myself in a few weeks! I'm pretty sure a couple of days in the warm will not undo the lagering, otherwise why would we do it?

[gnorwebthgimi]

I would trust the yeast and just bottle it and hope that it carbonates.

Test a few after three to for weeks and if still flat then try new yeast.

Why fix it if it might not be broken?

[Aleman]

You need about 0.1g of yeast to reseed . . . I've always rehydrated it and added it to the priming solution before adding it to the bottle or Corny. . . . Never bothered warming the lager up much either . . . it's not as if you are going to use it to ferment a whole 25L batch is it?

[TheLastSuppa]

Thanks for the replies guys!

I would trust the yeast and just bottle it and hope that it carbonates.

@gnorwebthgimi - I made a few batches of lager in March last year and got away without adding yeast but the temps were quite mild in comparison and I only lagered for a month, so I'm not going to leave it to chance - It's been minus 12C some nights and this brews been outside for 2 months, so I don't think the yeast will have had much of a chance.

I'm pretty sure a couple of days in the warm will not undo the lagering, otherwise why would we do it?

@dedken - I'm still not sure but I think that the proteins that form chill haze will solubilise when things warm up again, which means they could end up in my bottles - that's why you have to rack off the precipitate that's dropped out. So I'm gonna go with aleman and add rehydrated yeast cold to the priming solution in my bottling bucket.

You need about 0.1g of yeast to reseed . . .

@Aleman - Still not clear on the amount of yeast I need though. Is it 0.1g per L or for the whole 23L batch - that must be about 2 grains!! Do you rehydrate at 28C and then cool to the same temp as your beer or am I being anal.

Also - I usually only prime 80g for 23L for my ales as I don't like em fizzy but how much is enough for lager - I'm thinking 100g of dextrose? Does that sound about right??

[Aleman]

You need about 0.1g of yeast to reseed . . .

@Aleman - Still not clear on the amount of yeast I need though. Is it 0.1g per L or for the whole 23L batch - that must be about 2 grains!! Do you rehydrate at 28C and then cool to the same temp as your beer or am I being anal.

No that is 0.1g for the entire batch, you don't need much . . 0.1g is about 1/100th of a packet . . .an 1/8th of a tsp should do it.

Also - I usually only prime 80g for 23L for my ales as I don't like em fizzy but how much is enough for lager - I'm thinking 100g of dextrose? Does that sound about right??

I don't really know, as I don't like my lagers too fizzy either . . . I tend to use the carbonation calculator in Promash for that sort of thing

[dedken]

I'm pretty sure a couple of days in the warm will not undo the lagering, otherwise why would we do it?

@dedken - I'm still not sure but I think that the proteins that form chill haze will solubilise when things warm up again, which means they could end up in my bottles - that's why you have to rack off the precipitate that's dropped out. So I'm gonna go with aleman and add rehydrated yeast cold to the priming solution in my bottling bucket.

Does this mean that you're going to keep your lager permanently cold then? Maybe I'm wrong but I could have sworn that the whole point of lagering was because it 'cures' chill haze or at least goes some way towards it. Also wondering what grains you use and how you mashed - did you do a multi-step mash with protein rest? Carrying out a protein rest (with unmodified malt)is supposed to break up proteins which might cause chill haze (Palmer). I'd be interested to know.

[TheLastSuppa]

Does this mean that you're going to keep your lager permanently cold then? Maybe I'm wrong but I could have sworn that the whole point of lagering was because it 'cures' chill haze or at least goes some way towards it.

I think your right dedken, lagering goes some way towards curing chill haze. You rack the beer off the secondary to your bottling bucket or keg, the proteins that cause haze have precipitated with dextrins and they are the mush left on the bottom of the secondary FV with the dead yeast.

I don't need to keep the bottles cold after that because the proteins are still in the fv. That's why you can't lager in the bottle.

Just did a single infusion mash at 151F. Can't be faffed with double decoction mashing. My brew day is long enough as it is!!

[Aleman]

Carrying out a protein rest (with unmodified malt)is supposed to break up proteins which might cause chill haze (Palmer).

Well correct . . . Does he go on to say that virtually every malt we can get in the trade today is either well (or even Over) modified, and that any form of step mashing to break down excessive proteins is completely and utterly pointless? . . . Didn't think so

Step mashing as it's place as a way of developing certain flavours if you are after a historical method of creating those flavours . . but that is about it.

Single infusion mashing is the way to go.

[dedken]

He states in the opening paragraph that most base malt these days is fully modified and also that using a protein rest on fully modified malts removes most of the body and can lead to a thin and watery beer. Wish I'd read that a few weeks back.