Beer Forum

I brewed a traditional bock on Sunday. OG was 1.062. I thought I was supposed to get it down to my fermentation temp before I pitched, so I chilled it down to about 52 F, and pitched a smack pack of Wyeast 2206 Bavarian Lager (I wanted to make a starter but I just didn't have time). The temp is staying at a pretty stable 52 F. I am worried because I am not really seeing any signs of fermentation yet. I went to the Wyeast website and it says to pitch at 70 F, then chill down to about 50 when fermentation starts.

Did I pitch to cold? Will it just take longer for the yeast to grow and multiply? Do I need to pitch more?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Couple things.

1. You were right to pitch after cooling. I usually pitch at 48 and let it rise to 50, then hold it there.

2. It is imperative to make a starter for a lager. This is probably why you're having such a long lag time.

3. Did you oxygenate the wort before pitching? This could also be part of the problem.

Yes, I oxygenated the wort thoroughly. I really wish that I had made a starter, but I was hoping that I would be alright. Should I try to pitch more or should I just wait it out. Once fermentation is complete, is a d-rest mandatory for lagers? How long and at what temps do I do that?

Just to give you an idea of how much you under pitched by, Mrmalty's pitching calculator says you would need a 5.15 liter starter with two packs of yeast for 5 gallons of 1.062 lager.

Dmac08 wrote:Just to give you an idea of how much you under pitched by, Mrmalty's pitching calculator says you would need a 5.15 liter starter with two packs of yeast for 5 gallons of 1.062 lager.

Wow. So when you lager folks make a beer like this do you generally step up a starter or repitch from a previous batch? Does anybody actually make a 5 liter starter all at once?

RodMandrill wrote:

Dmac08 wrote:Just to give you an idea of how much you under pitched by, Mrmalty's pitching calculator says you would need a 5.15 liter starter with two packs of yeast for 5 gallons of 1.062 lager.

Wow. So when you lager folks make a beer like this do you generally step up a starter or repitch from a previous batch? Does anybody actually make a 5 liter starter all at once?

Depends on the beer. For a 1.062 bock I might have done a Helles first. You could certainly step up though.

Oh, and those numbers we calulated at 90% viability.

RodMandrill wrote:

Dmac08 wrote:Just to give you an idea of how much you under pitched by, Mrmalty's pitching calculator says you would need a 5.15 liter starter with two packs of yeast for 5 gallons of 1.062 lager.

Wow. So when you lager folks make a beer like this do you generally step up a starter or repitch from a previous batch? Does anybody actually make a 5 liter starter all at once?

I brewed a 1.052 Bock several months ago and propagated the yeast from a slant.

Slant => 5ml => 50ml => 500ml => 2000ml

I propagate all my yeast from slants. It works great, finished at 1.010

Alright, so I under pitched. What can I do to save it? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.