Brew Day - April 19, 2009

Lady Lager

14 gallons

27.50 lbs. Canada Malting
85 grams Czech Saaz ( 60 min )
Saflager 34/70 dry yeast ( rehydrated )

O.G. - 1.058
F.G. - 1.014
% - 5.8
SRM - 5
BU - 15.5

This beer is a tribute to my dog Lady who passed away on March 29, 2009. She was 15.

The bitterness is pretty low on this one. I should of ordered more hops, but I cheaped out. I haven't had a lot of luck lately in brewing beer and I should not of made a lager at this time. If anything can go wrong, it will certainly go wrong in a lager instead of an ale which may be more forgiving. We will see in two weeks. There was no activity after about 20 hours. I brought it out of the fermentation chamber and let it warm up some. After a few hours it started to ferment. I put it back in and it is going now. I shouldn't have to do this, but I should of doubled my dry yeast. It is fermenting good now. I may need a blow-off hose. My temperature strip only goes down to 58F, so I am only guessing that it is slightly too warm. I lowered it to 47F to allow for the slight rise in the fermentation temp in the carboys. It is fermenting real slow. I realize lagers ferment slower. It has been two years since I brewed my last lager and it seems odd to see the bubbles in the air lock going so slow. I am used to violent action in my ales. This is at least cleaner. No blow off hoses and junk to clean in the pails. I would like to start brewing 90% lagers. Stouts and nice citrusy pale ales would be an exception. I will do a D-rest on May 1st. I will simply turn the FC off and let it get to room temp in the basement. That should be around 64F. Keg a couple of days later and lager for as long as possible. I set the dial to 54F. It is still going good and I hope I don't get too much diacetyl in this beer. I'll give this beer as long as it wants to ferment. I should though bring it out to room temp when it visibly starts to slow down. It is carbed up. I don't really like it that much, since the bitterness is too low. Also, I think that the hops I ordered were very old. They were not vacuum sealed too. I didn't detect any bu's and I have made light beer before this one.