Not really taking off.

[Kippo]

Gday fellas i'm back in action, had a bit of a break but can't keep me down from brewing!

Question: Started a batch of Cooper Bavarian Lager this morn at about 10am. Went to work, came home and at 9.30pm there was no sight of the Krausen ring forming. Not to sure what this means maybe my temp was too low (says that the kit yeats can ferment as low as 13degC). I chucked on this tyhingo i bought (brew-belt) as it says to keep it on until air temp reaches 26C or above. Just hoping it is up and going by the time i wake up in the morn. Nething wrong u recon or this norm? (been a while cant really remember how long it took lol).

[Wassa]

Kippo,

Take the heat belt off ASAP.

The Bavarian Lager comes with a proper lager yeast and it works best at around 8 to 14 degrees.

You need to give the yeast time to start working, 12 to 36 hours. If it isn't working by then go to the HBS and buy some Saflager x34/20???/ (i think) which is a german lager yeast, and pitch it.

Lagers are designed to be fermented at lower temps so wait and see.

[shane_vor]

The cooler that puppy was when the yeast was pitched, the slower it is to kick off. When doing cooler brews like those ones, I always make up a starter then pitch that. That way the little buggers have a bit of a headstart and are not overwhelmed by the wort. Having said that, some kits recommend two sachets of dry lager yeast when pitching cool. That probably has some merit as well.

[Kippo]

k fellas. I know about the temps for different yeats and all and thought that the kit came with saflager yeats, but the instructions said on the kit that the yeast can ferment as low as 13degsC, so didnt want to drop it any lower. thanks for the advice!

Cheers, Kippo.

[da_damage_done]

I was a bit freaked too with the saflager

having used cooper's normal yeast which very aggressive with the krausen forming about 8 hours after pitching the yeast

I was a little worried that the saflager took about 2+ days to get going @ 10*C.

There is a completely different mind set between lagers and ales. I'm thinking about sticking to the ales moving forward.

[Aussie Claret]

For lagers, as Shane has said, bettter to pitch two sachets of yeast or make a starter to reduce the lag time and reduce the suseptibility to infection.
Good advice Shane.
AC

[Chris]

I agree with 2 packets of yeast. Especially with these low temp fermentations.

[Kippo]

Thanks fellas, that will definately help!

[Kippo]

Patients is a virtue, waited for the eggy smell and then i knew it was going lol. Umm a while back i got this info off Jack Sparow on Racking:

Racking & CCing
* Ferment for 1 week
* Rack (transfer) beer to second vessel and leave at fermenation temp for 3 days
* Move vessel to fridge for 4-7 days and lager (cold condition) at 0-4*C
* Remove vessel from fridge 12-24 hours before bottling
* Rack (transfer) beer on top of dissolved priming sugar, gently stir the whole mixture of green beer and priming sugar then bottle immediately.
* Store bottled beer at 15-24*C in the dark for at least a month (by all means taste one every week but it ain't ready!)

For thsi brew i am moving onto racking (only my 4th brew) and since i dont have a fridge big enough to fit an entire fermenter in i was hoping this method would work:

Racking and CC'ing
--> Ferment for a week (or aslong as it takes)
--> Rack beer to second fermenter and leave at fermentation temp for 3 days. Clean initial fermenter.
-->Rack beer on top of desolved priming sugar, gently stir the whole mixture of green beer and priming sugar and bottle immediately
--> Store bottles in a fridge (lager the beer in the bottles rather than fermenter?) for 4 to 7 days.
--> Remove bottles from fridge and place in a dark place 15-24 degress for a month.

Will this work? Main question is does the beer have to be CC'd before it is primed or does that not matter?

[Aussie Claret]

Just the last two steps,
After you bulk prime leave them for 2 weeks at room temperature to carbonate, then cold condition in the fridge, for as long as you can.

AC

[shane_vor]

I'm with AC, lagering takes AGES! Bottle, let carbonate then CC for some time...(I'm not very good at lagering or CCing, I'm very impatient!)

[Kippo]

Yep good stuff....Depending on whether or not i can make it to the HBS or not this brew may not be racked, but before i even think of pitching another batch all the racking gear will be acquired.

Cheers fellas, Kippo.

[Kippo]

Couldnt wait! Had to get me racking gear. Just ended up buying another coopers micro kit and tubing from bunnings. Gives me everything i need and a spare of everything so i figured that works.