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Fifth brew: Dutch Lager

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  • #16
    Haha fair enough... Was actually hoping to get it bottled by the upcoming weekend but this is going a bit slower than anticipated, which is why I'm just "annoyed", so to speak.

    PS: Does it get better/easier with age? The waiting for me isn't that bad anymore, but I dunno. Annoyance is still a problem if it doesn't go "as planned". And yes I know my "as planned" is talking from a bare-minimum of experience

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    • #17
      Rule #2: Stop mucking around with your beer, don't smell it, don't taste it, don't stir it, don't shake it, don't even look at it, leave it alone

      Jokes aside, your beer is fine, be patient don't try to brew the beer to fit into your or other peoples schedule, the beer will let you know when its ready. Its has only been a week since pitching yeast, calm down to a panic and have a homebrew.

      Good beer takes time. Just because you can push a lager yeast up to temps of 18C does not necessarily mean that it would ferment the beer to completion at the same tempo or faster than a Ale yeast.

      You started at 1.038 a week ago, lets say it will go down to 1.008 = 3.9% (78% attenuation) then you are only about half way now, I would suggest leave it alone for at least 7-10 days before taking 1st FG reading
      Harhm
      Senior Member
      Last edited by Harhm; 25 September 2018, 10:11.
      2017 SANHC-Finals-German Pilsner.2019 Academy of Taste-1st Lager +1st Overall-German Leichtbier.2019 Free State Fermenters-1st Place-Australian Sparkling Ale.2019 SANHC-Final Round-German Leichtbier.2020 SANHC-Top 5-EishBock.2021 SANHC-Low Alcohol Cat: 2nd-2%Lager, Over All Cat: 2nd-Schwarzbier.2022 Free State Fermenters-1st-American light Lager.2022 Fools and Fans National Competition-Top 5-Dunkles Bock

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      • #18
        Originally posted by Toxxyc View Post
        PS: Does it get better/easier with age?
        Wouldnt know.... Im a springchicken

        I agree with Harhm... Remember its not an ale yeast, so time, love and patience will get it there.
        Cheers,
        Lang
        ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
        "Dudddde...Hold my beer!".... ; "I wonder what will happen if I ...."

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        • #19
          This is excruciating. I can see it's going, but it's just going sooooo sloooooow. But, we all know the sayings. Rome wasn't built in a day, all good things are worth waiting for, etc. etc.

          It's still fermenting, Krauzen is now sloooowly starting to die down so I think we might be approaching end. However, I'm not opening the fermenter. I'm not smelling it. I'm not tasting it. I'm not measuring it. I'm just leaving it. I got a day off next week Wednesday and I'm just hoping I might get to see it bottled by then. After that I'm going to be a quite busy man and might not get around to bottling for a long time. Perfect waiting time for carbonating and bottle conditioning

          Looks great though. Colour is a light golden hue and it's already looking like it's clearing naturally (without any additives). I'll take a gravity reading over the weekend (2 weeks after pitching) and see where it's at, and if it's at the target gravity (1.008) I'll do the gelatin thing for the first time to see how/if it works.

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          • #20
            Originally posted by Toxxyc View Post
            This is excruciating. I can see it's going, but it's just going sooooo sloooooow. But, we all know the sayings. Rome wasn't built in a day, all good things are worth waiting for, etc. etc.

            It's still fermenting, Krauzen is now sloooowly starting to die down so I think we might be approaching end. However, I'm not opening the fermenter. I'm not smelling it. I'm not tasting it. I'm not measuring it. I'm just leaving it. I got a day off next week Wednesday and I'm just hoping I might get to see it bottled by then. After that I'm going to be a quite busy man and might not get around to bottling for a long time. Perfect waiting time for carbonating and bottle conditioning

            Looks great though. Colour is a light golden hue and it's already looking like it's clearing naturally (without any additives). I'll take a gravity reading over the weekend (2 weeks after pitching) and see where it's at, and if it's at the target gravity (1.008) I'll do the gelatin thing for the first time to see how/if it works.
            Remember this works best with cold beer ... and yes it works great.
            The Problem With The World Is That Everyone Is A Few Drinks Behind.!

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            • #21
              Originally posted by JIGSAW View Post
              Remember this works best with cold beer ... and yes it works great.
              Took a quick gravity reading this morning after I saw the krauzen looking like it got a puncture. From a quick glance, it seems to sit at 1.008 - the targeted FG giving an ABV of just under 4%. With carbonation I'll be looking at ~4.2%. Fermentation time - 11 days.

              Fermenter is being cooled down now, aiming for around 14°C ~ 15°C or less, the setting temperature of gelatin. I'll then use the above mentioned method and pitch some gelatin either this evening or tomorrow morning (depending on how quick I can get the temperatures correct). Bottling is aimed for this weekend, maybe on Monday, but we'll see. Can't wait!

              On smell and taste - smells and tastes exactly like a warm, flat Amstel, so I think I'm getting where I want to be.

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              • #22
                When I say cold, I mean serving temp of ± 4ºC (I've never really seen articles that says gelatine works best at 14-15º ?? )
                The Problem With The World Is That Everyone Is A Few Drinks Behind.!

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                • #23
                  Originally posted by JIGSAW View Post
                  When I say cold, I mean serving temp of ± 4ºC (I've never really seen articles that says gelatine works best at 14-15º ?? )
                  Oh yeah that's possible. I don't have the means to get the fermenter that cold though so the furthest I can push it down is where the ice packs and cooler box method allows Will get a big bag of ice to dump in there as well - should help a lot.

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                  • #24
                    Bottled the lot last night. My take:


                    1. The gelatin worked well, but not as well as it would have if the beer was at the temperatures it should have been. It's still cloudy, but at least the heavier particles dropped out and it actually looks like chill haze. A few weeks in the bottle should solve this.


                    2. I got 2 x mini kegs, 24 x 440ml and 6 x 340ml bottles out of the batch. The yeast cake was VERY loose, and I couldn't get as much out of it as I'm used to. I usually tilt the fermenter to the tap side to get the most out of it, but the yeast cake in this batch simply sloshed to the side when I did this, so I got a bottle filled mostly with yeast. Stopped when that happened.


                    3. Beer colour is a lot darker than the comparing European lagers they seem to want to compare to. They're comparing to Heineken mostly, and this beer is a lot darker. I suspect it's because I used the German Lager enhancer (DME) and not just plain dextrose, so that's just fine. I don't mind the slightly darker colour, I actually like it.


                    4. FG stuck at 1.008, so my ABV is around 4% ABV, including the carbonation drop. Not high, so this will be a very lekker sessionable beer. Can't wait!


                    5. Taste...now this one stuck out to me as interesting. Even after the wait and the gravity not dropping (at all), I still got a slight hint of malt sweetness. I've never tasted it in beer that's done fermenting before, and I'm hoping that it's just the "green" of the beer hitting through. Bitterness is very mild and nicely sessionable and the aroma is plain lager beer. Nothing to complain about, but I might have wanted it a bit higher but then again, it is a light lager and not a hoppy bomb. The rest of the taste though - brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. It's crisp, refreshing (considering it was flat and at around 10°C) and just tastes nicely balanced. DEFINITELY needs some bottle conditioning, but that's expected. I can't wait for this one to finish up...


                    6. Oh, on the yeast - no off flavours or by products detected. It was a very clean ferment from what I could see. Love this yeast!

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                    • #25
                      Great Hope the next 2-3 weeks will round it off nicely

                      Did you "under-carb" those mini-kegs as is recommended by so many that use them ?
                      The Problem With The World Is That Everyone Is A Few Drinks Behind.!

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                      • #26
                        Originally posted by JIGSAW View Post
                        Great Hope the next 2-3 weeks will round it off nicely

                        Did you "under-carb" those mini-kegs as is recommended by so many that use them ?
                        Same. They recommend 8~10 weeks for that yeast in the bottle, but I'll start testing them from around 2 weeks :P

                        Regarding the mini kegs, I did some research and found that you can carbonate them up to something like 32g of sugar per keg. That often results in very foamy dispening though, and people recommended half that for manageable pours. I added 15g of normal brown table sugar per keg, and I hope it'll be fine. I also filled them a little under the 5l mark (which is also as recommended), and left about 30mm headspace in the top of the kegs. Probably around 4.3l~4.4l per keg, meaning I should get 8~10 big glasses of beer per keg. Perfect for a braai with a buddy or two.

                        This is my experimental mini-keg run. If it works well, I'll probably end up buying a few more of these mini kegs and using them more in the future, play with the carbonation levels and fill levels, etc. I'm just wondering how well they'll store, so for starters I'll probably use them quick-ish.

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                        • #27
                          Originally posted by Toxxyc View Post
                          Regarding the mini kegs, I added 15g of normal brown table sugar per keg, and I hope it'll be fine. I also filled them a little under the 5l mark (which is also as recommended), and left about 30mm headspace in the top of the kegs. .
                          That's perfect carbonation for the mini kegs.

                          Carbonate the mini's for around 3 weeks, lager in the fridge for 9 weeks and they should be at their peak around New years. The mini kegs will last you long, just check the inside seems for rust every now and then.
                          2017 SANHC-Finals-German Pilsner.2019 Academy of Taste-1st Lager +1st Overall-German Leichtbier.2019 Free State Fermenters-1st Place-Australian Sparkling Ale.2019 SANHC-Final Round-German Leichtbier.2020 SANHC-Top 5-EishBock.2021 SANHC-Low Alcohol Cat: 2nd-2%Lager, Over All Cat: 2nd-Schwarzbier.2022 Free State Fermenters-1st-American light Lager.2022 Fools and Fans National Competition-Top 5-Dunkles Bock

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                          • #28
                            Awesome, thanks! Yeah I heard the kegs are prone to rust on the seams, but they seem to be coated with some sort of hydrophobic coating on the inside. I'm thinking that after use I'll immediately rinse them with clean tap water, sanitize with a no-rinse sanitizer and then I'm thinking of placing it on a heat source for a few seconds to just evaporate all moisture on the inside. I can then simply pop back in place the plastic caps they come with to seal them off and store, ready for next use.

                            I think these kegs are going to be epic for New Years, you've just given me one awesome idea...

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                            • #29
                              This is something I came across some time ago when I gave it a try. Some useful info.

                              https://www.midwestsupplies.com/down...nd_feeding.pdf

                              I primed the same amount as the bottles and kept the keg for a work get together braai..... it was a foam party
                              Cheers,
                              Lang
                              ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                              "Dudddde...Hold my beer!".... ; "I wonder what will happen if I ...."

                              Comment


                              • #30
                                lol @ Langchop
                                The Problem With The World Is That Everyone Is A Few Drinks Behind.!

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