Preparations complete

Currently 24 hours in the fermentor at 48° f no vigorous action
 
Did you give that yeast mittens and scarves? :D
 
I'm going to get together with a club locally and get some help and guidance being new at brewing I think it would benefit me.
 
It's a lager, yeast package recommended 45 to 55 for pitching and fermenting should I increase it to the higher range?
 
Yes, raise the temp., Crunk. Set it around 60-65 deg. and see if you get any action. I had the same issue when half of my Pilsner batch froze in the fermenter by accident. I thawed it and kept it higher, around that temp. range and she eventually restarted. It will be a slow primary no matter what you do as you're using lager yeast. If you repitch, make a starter to up the cell count.
 
CRUNK said:
I'm going to get together with a club locally and get some help and guidance being new at brewing I think it would benefit me.
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I hope that works well for you. Each person in my local club thinks that he is the only one in the club to know what he's talking about. I found it very hard to sort through the conflicting information.
 
I did make a starter 24 hours prior, 4 cups water, boiled, stirred in 1 cup pale light dme, cooled it to 50 degrees f then pitched wlp838 southern german lager yeast. Placed it in my glass vial on my stir plate, and pitched it when my wort was chilled to 53 degrees f
 
The air lock is bubbling but it's slow, I need to work on my numbers I need a coach or a club to get my process fine tuned, then I feel confident I'll brew just fine, my numbers are off but I expected to have a lot more to learn about brewing by doing it hands on, and I feel very comfortable with my first 2 brew days so far, just need a little coaching, and practice.

I do appreciate all the advice and help I receive here.
 
Remember that lagers take awhile more to get started first phase is absorbing oxygen getting ready for the ferment party just keep her in yeasts specified ferment range and they'll sort the rest out. I know you've been priming them with oxygen pre pitch so I'm sure they are happy in there. Try and keep calm I know your stressing it's all good as long as you've followed good sanitary practice pitched adequate yeast and given them the right environment to do their thing all you've gotta do is be patient and WAIT :D.

One way that I focus my attention away from the current brew is looking forward to your next brew;)
 
Trialben said:
Remember that lagers take awhile more to get started first phase is absorbing oxygen getting ready for the ferment party just keep her in yeasts specified ferment range and they'll sort the rest out. I know you've been priming them with oxygen pre pitch so I'm sure they are happy in there. Try and keep calm I know your stressing it's all good as long as you've followed good sanitary practice pitched adequate yeast and given them the right environment to do their thing all you've gotta do is be patient and WAIT :D.

One way that I focus my attention away from the current brew is looking forward to your next brew;)
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Ditto - relax Crunk. Lagers take time. Maybe while you're letting this one get going you can knock out a few simpler pale ales or IPAs.
 
I have good news, the ale I did last Saturday that has been so damn murky, isn't murky at all, the yeast built up in the bottom of my fast fermentor so high it was above the sampling ports, I didn't notice it because I wasn't unwrapping the fermentor enough to see, so I pulled the bulb off the bottom drained the junk and saved the yeast cake in a Mason jar for future starter. Resanitized the bulb and put it back on and opened the valve, the remaining true flowed into the bulb giving me clear wort at the sample port. The gravity is 1.023, I'll give it a few more days to make sure then I will probably bottle this weekend, after I cold crash it. It tastes nearly identical to yeungling lager, which was exactly what I was shooting for. I feel foolish for not noticing it before but live and learn.

The lager I now feel will be fine also.
 
I'd suggest leaving it a little longer 1.023 is only half way done , after it hits FG I raise temps a little to ensure its finished and then cleans up properly
Then a CC and bottles ,
Don't rush it !
RDWAHAHB
 
Roger that sir,

The sample I took I put in the freezer for 30 minutes cold crash, it cleared up perfectly, tastes great, short of carbonation, so at the end of this week I'll check it again, if it's done I'll cold crash it and bottle.

The taste is exactly what I was looking for. I am so happy now. I feel extremely successful.
 
It will taste different when its ready @1.023 it'll have more sweetness
When its done and cleaned up with a little carbonic acid bite it will be better
 
This is actually the ale I did last week the lager I brewed yesterday

The lager og was 1.060

The ale og was 1.053
The ale had yeast above the sample port producing coffee with creamer looking samples (trub)
I noticed it today when I unwrapped it completely

All is fine now, I thought I screwed it up, the ale was my first brew ever. So it appears all my homework over the past 5 months paid off. Just got more hands on learning to do.

The advice and knowledge from you folks is a big help. Thank you guys for the time you spend here.
 
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