Lob Shot Lager

After brewing a lot of ales over the past few years I finally decided to try my hand at brewing a lager.  Lager beers need to be fermented at colder temperatures than ales, as lagers require a very clean and crisp taste profile as opposed to the fruity ester profile of an ale.  These colder temperatures reduce the yeast's metabolism which leads to longer fermentation times.  In order to achieve the colder temperatures needed for good lager fermentation (for this German Lager Yeast I need 50-55F) it was necessary to buy a chest freezer and use a digital temperature controller to keep the fermentation temperature constant around 53F.  In addition to fermenting at lower temperatures lagers need to be...Lagered...

The word lager comes from the German word "lagern" which means to store.  After primary fermentation is complete lagers are stored for weeks or even months in cold temperatures around 32-38F.  During this extended lagering time the yeast is cleaning up other compounds in the beer than can give rise to off flavors that would ruin a nice crisp lager.  This lagering period also helps to clear the beer of all the proteins and particles that end up floating around during fermentation. 


For my first lager I decided to brew a Marzen with the following recipe:

6 lbs  Vienna Malt
4 lbs  Munich Dark Malt
1 lb    Pilsner Malt
.75 lbs Caramunich III
1 oz Hallertauer (60 min)
.75 oz Spalt (30 min)
WLP830 German Lager Yeast

Protein Rest at 130F for 30min
Alpha Sacchrification at 146F for 30min
Beta Sacchrification at 155F for 60min
90 minute boil
Cooled to 55F and pitched yeast (I should have used a yeast starter but I ended up using two vials of WLP830 to compensate)

After no fermentation activity for 36 hours I got a little nervous but as you can see from the pictures below the Lob Shot Lager is off and running... I'll wait for primary fermentation to be almost complete and then take it out of the freezer for 2 days to allow the yeast to clean up any diacetyl (gives a buttery or slippery mouthfeel...not good for lager) and then I'll turn it down to 35F for at least 8 weeks.