The Beer Nerd - what are you drinking / brewing thread

Forgot that I had left this at my in-laws. Grabbed it yesterday when I went there to mow the lawn since they're in Portugal all summer now.

 

Anyone on here brew Lagers? I’ve been wanting to do a Mexican style lager with the added tequila barrel aged effected but am guessing you need a dedicated fermenting fridge/cooler to maintain the sub 60 temp. For me finding a room below 75 can be a challenge here when the outside temps are in the triple digits.

 

Maybe wait until it cools down?

Or get a fridge or freezer with a temp controller. My chest freezer doubles as a fermentation chamber/kegerator.

Haven’t tried a lager yet. Although I make a cream ale that I kinda lager after fermenting it out.

 

They make some other methods to cool it, including water baths with ice bottles or such. I'd say you definitely need something to chill for a lager. I haven't done one myself yet, been wanting to tho

 

The usual spot, Bruery Terreux. I tried to suggest anything else but they refused.

 

I’ve yet to venture in to lager territory. I have read through these threads though. 75 might still be a little high but it seems that there can be success fermenting at ale temps with certain yeast strains.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/warm-fermented-lager-thread.592169/

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/more-fermentation-temperature-reproach.587038/

 

I make about 18-20 brews a year and these days at least half of them are done as lagers. Besides traditional lager recipes, I've been brewing as lagers all ale recipes that require a clean flavor profile from the yeast. Of the ten brews I've made in 2019, six have been lagers, as will be the next three I have planned (schwartzbier, smoked helles, and a Scotch ale brewed as a lager). As mentioned above, you can ferment some strains warm with little to no detrimental effects (look into the San Francisco Lager strain that is used for a California Common), but in this context, "warm" means low to mid-60s (not exceeding ~68°). You get into the 70s with any strain and there will likely be esters produced that you don't want in a lager. Some sort of temp controlled ferm chamber is really the way to go so you can get down into the low 50s where most lagers are fermented.

 

Thanks all. Guess the safest way is just to start looking at adding a chest freezer if I really want to zero in and not take chances. Sure we'll will find something else to use it for when not fermenting. Only problem would be that if the wife starts using it as a freezer, I'll never get it back. I see the 5 and 7 cubic foot ones pretty reasonably priced around here.

 

A pop up beer garden at
Quarry Lake Park Racine,Wisconsin
Serving Paulaner Bier from Munchen.

 

Hey, @NoOne - you doing OK down there? Hope all is still above water.

 

I have bottles of this for trade. PM me if you’re interested in a trade.

 

Also will have 1, maybe 2 bottles of this to trade too

 

I got my used. Someone in my Homebrew club gave it to me.

Craigslist or Facebook market place might be cheap.

And inkbird temp controller is probably the most straight forward way to control it. I made one from an aquarium temp controller I got off eBay.

Kind of like this one:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/ebay-aquarium-temp-controller-build.163849/

Built two actually.

 

Is this the suff you wanted me to try? but seem to forget everytime I come over?

 

Temp control of fermentation is one of the best investments in brew quality you can get. I got a giant 11 CF one on craigslist for like $75 years ago and it's ugly as hell but keeps working. I made a temp controller using an STC-1000, but the new pre-made inkbird units are way easy. Doubles as a beer semi-fridge most of the time now too.

 

Just tried number crunch the other night and was really impressed!

 

Nope

 

I have about 5 boxes filled with BL beers from the past 2.5 years in my “cellar” closet haha

 

Nice! I end up just drinking them after a while, usually always tell myself I'll try and sell one, but never happens. I hope they come out with the maple manticore release, I really enjoyed that one during the week of logic

 

Ha! That’s the hard part. I never know when to drink them cuz they’re so high abv. I need to unload some. Been thinking of selling some off of some older ones. Going to do a FO vertical this year I think. I have all the way to batch 2