NOTE: The method I discuss here includes ideas similar to those proposed by Ludwig Narziss and Greg Noonan long before I came along, a couple dudes often credited for inspiring the public to brew and drink more delicious lager beer!
I’m a lover of all things lager- Márzen, Schwarzbier, Helles, and Pilsner are some of favorite styles. As a homebrewer, I initially avoided making lager beer due to my inability to precisely control fermentation temperature. Once I finally got my chamber setup and made a couple lagers using more traditional fermentation schedules, I found myself avoiding them due to how long they took to finish. I also began wondering how I might be able to hasten the process. I had learned that with precise control of my temperature, I could turn most ales around in 2 weeks and wondered why I couldn’t use this control to do the same with lager beers. I made a couple batches that came out surprisingly well, played with the method for a few months, and was gradually convincing myself the days of 2 month lagers were behind me. After numerous successful batches, I happen to catch an episode of The Session on The Brewing Network where Mike “Tasty” McDole mentioned how he takes lager grain-to-glass in 2 weeks using precise control of fermentation temperature. This was validating, particularly since I was aiming for a much less anxiety provoking 3-4 week turnaround.
German brewers began making lager beers long before the advent of controllable refrigeration, fermenting and conditioning their beer in caves that maintained a fairly consistent 45°-55°F. They also brewed with the seasons, hence beers like Märzen, which was only brewed between September 29 and April 23 with consumption usually commencing in late Summer through October. The point I’m trying to make here is that the long-term fermentation and aging appears to be mostly a function of the inability to control environmental temperature.
A few things we’ve learned over the last couple centuries of brewing is that yeast generally works slower at cooler temperatures and faster at warmer temperatures, most esters and phenolics are produced during the growth phase of fermentation, which in my experience lasts about 4-5 days for cool fermented lagers, and beer lagers faster at colder temperatures. I know, there’s supposedly something else that magically happens to a beer over time besides just clarity, but let’s be real here, clarity is what most of us are waiting for as the indication that a beer is ready to drink. And if I’m being totally honest, I sort of enjoy the very minimal perceptible changes that occur in a beer over the 2-3 weeks I have it on tap.
| THE METHOD |
Step 1: Primary Fermentation
Chill wort to pitching temp of 48°-53°F (9°-12°C), pitch adequately sized starter (decanted), set regulator to initial fermentation temp between 50°-55°F (10°-13°C), and leave the beer to ferment until it is at least 50% attenuated. I’ve found the time this takes is dependent on 2 primary factors:
1. Original Gravity: a 1.080 Doppelbock is going to take longer to reach 50% attenuation than a 1.048 Helles.
2. Yeast Type: in my experience, rehydrated dry lager yeasts take 12-36 hours longer to show signs of active fermentation compared to liquid yeasts built up in starters or even slurry harvested from a prior batch.
I originally advised leaving the fermenting beer at primary temp for 5 days assuming folks were checking SG prior to making temp changes. This was a mistake on my part. While it is possible even high OG beers will reach 50% attenuation in this amount of time, I’ve heard from a couple folks who experience differently. As such, here are my new better-safe-than-sorry recommendations:
| OG of Wort | Yeast Type | Approximate Primary Time |
|---|---|---|
| ≤ 1.060 OG | Liquid | 4-7 days |
| ≤ 1.060 OG | Dry | 5-8 days |
| ≥ 1.061 | Liquid | 6-10 days |
| ≥ 1.061 | Dry | 7-14 days |
Another factor worth considering is your preferred primary fermentation temperature, as yeast is going to work a bit faster at 54°F (12°C) compared to 48°F/ (9°C). The original 5 day recommendation will likely hold true for most folks, as it has for me, I just want to emphasize the importance of taking SG measurements prior to making temp changes.
Step 2: The Ramp Up
Once 50% attenuation is reached, remove the probe from the side of the fermentor so it measures ambient temp in the chamber and start bumping the regulator up 5°F every 12 hours until it reaches 65°-68°F (18°-20°C). Allow the beer to remain at this temp until fermentation is complete and the yeast have cleaned-up after themselves, which can take anywhere from 4 to 10 days.
Alternate Option
Keep the temp probe attached to the fermentor and forgo the incremental temperature increases but immediately setting your regulator to 65°-68°F (18°-20°C). While I still prefer the more gentle approach to temp increases, I’ve heard from many people have had great success using this slightly less time-consuming approach.
Step 3: The Ramp Down
When FG is stable and no diacetyl or acetaldehyde is detected in the beer, begin ramping the temp down in 5°-8°F increments every 12 hours or so until it reaches 30°-32°F (-1°-0°C). Allow the beer to remain at this temp for 3-5 days, during which it will begin to drop clear.
Alternate Option 1
Setting the regulator to 30°-32°F (-1°-0°C) without gradually stepping the temp down will shave 2-3 days off of the entire process. Many brewers have done this with positive results, myself included, though I still tend to prefer the original method if only to reduce the amount of airlock fluid that gets sucked into the beer as it crashes.
Alternate Option 2
If super bright beer is something you pine for, as I do, and you’re okay with putting animal products in your beer, as I am, consider adding gelatin once the temp of the beer has reached 50°F (10°C). In my experience, this has significantly decreased the amount of time required for the beer to clear to commercial levels, I usually end up kegging 24-48 hours after adding the gelatin.
Step 4: Packaging & Storage
Once the beer is clear, it’s ready to be packaged, the process of which is obviously different depending on whether one uses kegs or bottles. Yes, bottle conditioning is absolutely possible with this method.
For Those Who Keg…
Simply transfer the cold and clear beer to your keg, place it in your keezer on gas, and leave it for 3+ days before enjoying! Using my typical kegging/carbonation method in conjunction with gelatin, I’ve found the beer is usually ready for consumption after about 5 days of “lagering” in my keezer, while others swear their beers peak after 2 weeks or so of cold storage. This is likely an issue of subjective preference mixed with a sprinkle of confirmation bias, but regardless, do what you works best for you!
For Those Who Bottle…
Use a trusted priming sugar calculator to determine the amount of your preferred fermentable to use; adding extra yeast is unnecessary, even if you fined with gelatin. Place the primed bottles in an environment that maintains a fairly consistent 68°-72°F (20°-23°C) and allow them to carbonate for 2-3 weeks. Once carbonated, I recommend placing multiple bottles in the fridge to “bottle lager” for 5+ days before enjoying, as this will encourage the precipitation of most particulate matter, providing you a clear and delicious lager beer.
| EVIDENCE |
To the skeptics out there or those who feel anxious questioning convention, I understand completely, believe me. I know it’s not easy trusting some dude you’ve never met, but I mean it when I say the many lager beers I’ve made using this method have tasted exactly how they were brewed to taste, no different than those I made in the past using the traditional drawn-out method. If you’ve been holding off from making lager beer because of the time commitment, consider giving this method a shot, I have a feeling you’ll be brewing many more lagers in the future if you do.
Cheers!
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596 thoughts on “Lager Method”
Hey Marshall – first time trying this out. I’m getting ready to hit 50% in about 36 hours (to confirm, the OG was 1.050 – it’s getting close to 1.025. Do I wait the full 4-5 days or start the temp increase at 1.025?
Can I get clarification about the 50%? Here’s three answers. OG of 1.050, estimated FG 1.010, yeast attenuation 75%
50% of OG – 1.025
50% of OG-FG – 1.030
50% of estimated yeast attenuation – Wait until 37.5% attenuation. – 1.035
Thank you!
What I originally meant was 50% to your expected FG, so at 1.050 OG, that’d be around 1.030 SG. However, it was really just a rough suggestion, I never went by it that specifically, just started ramping the temp after 3-4 days of active fermentation.
These days, I fermented most of my lagers using strains like L13 Global and L17 Harvest at ales temps– 66F for 4-5 days then ramp to 72F to encourage complete attenuation; crash, fine with gelatin, keg, and burst carbonation.
Thank you for the quick reply! I got too focused on the details instead of the general idea. I’ve only made one lager in my life due to the amount of time it took. Looking forward to trying the other strains you mention.
going to try this on a pilsner and a marzen this weekend. hoping to have them both packaged and carbed in two weeks
I brewed a marzen last night and used global l 13 too and placed my fermenter in my basement and the temperature on my fermenter was 72. I’m going to leave it there ,then transfer it to a secondary and place it in the garage where it should be 40 degrees or colder. Is that a good idea ?
Only time will tell!
Hi from Brazil.
I really enjoy to read your website. I decided to try the lager method using lager pitch rate. But you mentioned that nowadays, you been fermenting at 66F. My question: when you use lager yeast at ale temperature, do you use ale or lager pitch rate?
So your new lager method when using W34/70 for example is to ferment at 19C for 5days then ramp to 22 for another week or so before transferring to keg and coldcrash?
Pretty much, yeah. I’m not a huge fan of dry yeasts, as they seem to take longer to start, but my routine is to raise the temp from 19C to 22C after 3-4 days of active fermentation, then let it finish up, which usually only takes 2-3 more days.
Hey Marshall,
In an attempt to avoid the suck in through the airlock when you start dropping temps. Could you just transfer to the keg after step 2, purge of oxygen, then proceed with the ramp down in a sealed environment?
Definitely!
S airlock will aid in not getting airlock fluid sucked in during rampdown
Thats not the concern, its more of as it cools the ‘air suck’ back into the fermenter in general. I’ll go with the keg!
I attach my blow off tube to the liquid disconnect of a 5L keg with the dip tube removed and let it blow out through a spunding valve set to 2psi. I then attach the CO2 again at 2psi for crashing. No suck back at all.
I got tons of fluid sucked back in during ramp down on my latest lager during the ramp down. Wish I had read this before. Thanks for the suggestions.
“…ramp down in 5°-8°F increments every 12 hours…if only to reduce the amount of airlock fluid that gets sucked into the beer as it crashes.” – I’m confused. If the downward ramp starts at 68F and ends at 32F, isn’t the change in beer density (and the suck-back) the same regardless of whether the duration of that ramp was 1 day or 4 days?
You are correct that the time has no effect on the suck back effect, only temperature. It is the temperature of the gas that matters, not the liquid, as beer/water is incredibly resistant to compression. (This matters a lot, if you have a lot of headspace, you will have much more suck back).
This is completely incorrect. The beer does not change density, the pressure in the vessel does. If you rapidly drop the temp, you are not allowing the pressure to reach equilibrium and therefore will create a negative pressure in the vessel. If you slowly drop the temp, you will give time for the pressure within the vessel to reach equilibrium and therefore avoiding suck-back.
since your beer contains water the density will change with temperature.
Doesn’t PV=nRT? If temperature drops, regardless of time, V will need to decrease, causing a vacuum.
Actually, I meant P will need to decrease with a drop in temperature regardless of time.
Reaching equilibrium by sucking outside air… be it slowly or rapidly.
The speed at which you drop the temperature has no impact on the total amount of air getting sucked back in.
That is my understanding, I’d be happy to be proven wrong.
Hi Everyone! Salutes from Argentina, a newbie here!
I made for my first time, a Baltic Porter, and I was wondering, how much time does it take more or less for the “diacetyl or acetaldehyde” rest to complete?
Thank you very much in advance!
2-3 days at 18-19C is fine.
Hey Marshal! Love everything you do. So your brewed your (M)oktoberfest Yesterday and hit all of my numbers perfectly(Which is usually not the case!). This will be my first lager style beer, and my first go around using a chest freezer for temp control so I’m still doing the worry too much thing. Anyway, I had to use Wyeast 2206 and I’m currently following your quick lager method ONLY because I read that 2206 does better around 50 to 52 degrees and not the 58 you recommend on your recipe. Do you agree? I pitched my starter(400 billion cells or so) at around 6:30 this morning and currently have the temp set at 52 deg. Do you think for the recipes sake I should attempt 2206 at 58, or just stick with your quick lager method?
Again thanks for all of your research and experimentation. You inspire a lot of us to do things we never else would have tried on our own.
Sorry about the typos, already had a home brew or two.
I rarely use the quick lager method these days, opting instead to ferment with reliable lager strains at ale temps. If I were using 2206, I’d ferment it at 66F and call it a day!
Haha! I should have expected that response from you! Well fermentation has kicked off and its sitting at 52… Can I safely raise it up to 58 without any worries?
I’m following this quick larger method for the first time, but now you say that even you don’t use it these days, does that mean it’s not necessary anymore? Are you recommending that if we use larger yeast strains, to ignore the method up to where 50% attenuation is achieved, and instead pitch at 66F? Would you change anything else in the method from then on? This will be my first all grain brew, so I’m trying to be as accurate as possible 🙂
Hey Adam,
I’m not necessarily recommending anything, just sharing my personal opinions on things. I very rarely ferment cool anymore these days because, with the yeasts I use, warm fermented lagers keep turning out really good.
If it’s your first all grain batch and you want to do everything by the book, then maybe fermenting at 50F for a couple weeks before raising to a d-rest is the right move… or you could ferment it like an ale, see what you think, and decide from there. There’s always the next batch!
Cheers,
Marshall
Hi,
When you ferment at 66 F with 2206, do you use Lager pitch rate or Ale pitch rate?
Ale pitch rate.
Hey Marshall just to be clear your using lager yeasts and setting your values as if it was a ale yeast . Carl
Just an accidental anecdotal testimony to this ‘non-traditional’ method of lager making…Brewed a Vienna on 8/2. Pitched Wyeast 2633, Oktoberfest, at 48F, planning to hold for 4-5 days to ensure clean fermentation before ramping up after getting back from being out of town for work. After the 3rd or 4th day to breaker tripped to my shed which houses my fermentation chambers. When I discovered this the beer had risen to 75F. Basically finished off fermentation in a hurry! SG of 1.052 to FG of 1.010 in 5 days. After 17 days I kegged and sampled. No off flavors detected, slight caramel from the malt bill which should only continue to develop.
Hi Marshall, trying out your quick lager method for the first time (and noting that you don’t use it yourself anymore 🙂 ).
If you had to dry hop for five days when would you add hops in the schedule?
Is it possible to lager in your keggerator at more of a beer serving temp say around 40 degree or do you really want it lower? Cheers mate
Hi Marshall. Great write up! I am wondering about extra high gravity lagering like a Baltic Porter and specifically the aging process. The few things I’ve read about it suggest 3+ monthes. What are your thoughts? Can it be done in a keg? OG 1.095 and using S-23 yeast.
Be sure to pitch enough, and why not using 34/70 instead of s-23 ?
Marshall,seeing your comments regarding no longer using the method as described in this article and now fermenting reliable lager strains at ale temps-is it safe to assume that you get the same clean lager profile fermenting at ale temperatures?
We’ve shown in numerous xBmts that certain lager strains really do seem to perform well at ale temps, namely Weihenstephan (L13 Global) and Pilsner Urquell (L28 Urkel). Others, such as my favorite L17 Harvest (Augustiner), do seem to produce perceptible differences when fermented warm, slight as they may be, though not necessarily in a negative way.
So to put it simply: according to my personal palate, fermenting lager yeasts warm leads to the same clean lager profiles I get when fermenting cool. At least when using the yeasts I often use.
Thank you for the quick reply. I’m using Global strain. I will do a test and ferment 1/2 the batch at 50f and half at 65f.
Report results back!!
I would add that Wyeast 2206 ferments pretty clean as well, up to about 68F (I haven’t used it any warmer). Even works well over several generations at those temperatures.
What about Fermentis W34/70? Would you ferment this warmer or stick to the original 11C for 5days before ramping up? And if I start at 11C, do I need to pitch 2 x 11g packets (or can I build up the yeast count with a starter?)
The Weihenstephan strain is one of the hardiest I’m aware of, I ferment with it at 66F/19C.
Hello Marshall,
I have have two beers in the primary, Wy2206 and Wy2308, for about two weeks. Is it too far along to begin raising the temperature to follow the remainder of the protocol outlined above?
Will 2206, 2308, and WLP835 be negatively effected by the warmer protocol?
Thank you for your time.
Hey Marshall, another informative article. Nice work. I like to put priming sugar in my keg, would you suggest I can still do this after lagering and would you let it sit at 20c or so or much lower at say 2c? Thanks for input and keep up the great work.
Oh man! I just got a chest freezer with a regulator and I have a Festbier cold fermenting right now at 51F. I’m so glad I found this article and I am absolutely gonna try this! Thank you!!!!
The Tasty McDole Brewing Network episode regarding fast lager method that Marshall mentions is http://www.thebrewingnetwork.com/post1687/ and the conversation begins at 34:28
Hi Marshall, this might be of interest to you. We measure fermentation rate using a little air flow sensor made by Omron.
http://www.andrewsbrewing.com/monitors/brewery-fermentationflow2.htm
It is an ESP8266 project (as many others we have). Would be happy to share the Arduino IDE sketch with you or others.
We also plan on using the fermentation rate as a basis for adjusting the temperatures. Meaning keeping a constant fermentation rate.
Here is our first stab at your procedure.
http://www.andrewsbrewing.com/monitors/brewery-lager.htm
Hi Marshall, I’ve been using your lager method for a couple of years and love it. I plan to move to 10 gallon batches this year as well as brew nothing but German Pils all season. I can’t get enough of this style. You’ve expressed you’re love for this style as well, my question is; would you be willing to share your German Pils grain bill with me?
Thanks for all that you guys do,
Billy
90% Pils malt + 10% Vienna malt. Easy peezy.
Thanks you.
Aye, great piece!
Question: when doing a warmer lager fermentation, I can just stick to the higher temps the yeast are comfortable with a ramp up later towards the end? I don’t think it’s good to take the yeast out of their comfort zone during full fermentation.. right?
Lately, I’ve been fermenting most of my lagers at ale temps, 66F/19C, and it works great. Do what makes you feel comfortable 🙂
So if a yeast says best at 55f to 60f.. it’s ok to go up higher? I just wasnt sure if undesirable things happend or if it stresses the yeast out.
Technically, it’s okay to do whatever you want, it’s your beer! We’ve done numerous comparisons of yeast fermented at disparate temps, many returning non-significant results. I’d suggest heading to brulosophy.com/exbeeriments and searching for “fermentation temperature.”
Great write up. Will try tweaking my process and try. Also researching pressure fermentation where if reading correctly will be able to ferment lager yeast at higher temp and much faster. Tried?
You know it:
https://brulosophy.com/2016/06/13/under-pressure-pt-3-the-impact-of-pressurized-fermentation-on-lager-exbeeriment-results/
Hi!
I read an article on how commercial breweries lager their beer so quickly. https://byo.com/mr-wizard/how-do-commercial-breweries-lager-so-quickly/‘
Among the interesting tidbits are:
– “Yeast contact is a good thing. The key to flavor maturation is yeast. Increasing the contact between yeast and the compounds they are modifying can reduce lagering times.”
– “The most modern lagering technique combines warming beer to convert alpha-acetolactate to diacetyl and a high yeast-to-beer concentration… The beer is recirculated through a column filled with yeast for rapid “aging” then filtered. The result is continuous lagering. It reduces lagering time from weeks to about a quarter of a day! Warning: Do not try this at home.”
An idea popped into my head:
Suppose a beer was fermented in keg. Would using a QuickCarb to recirculate the beer (trub and all) allow the beer to rapid age within a day? Subsequent filtering on transfer to another keg or perhaps a cold crash and gelatin to clear before packaging.
Worth a try?
I have a question perhaps you could help with. I’m having trouble reaching FG – I’ve made some stunning Helles lagers, but they tend to finish around 1.024 – 1.030 then bottle with gyle / kräusen. Never seems to get near target 1.010 (I suspect more yeast and bigger starter needed, and more patience with temp control). At present, I have a Märzen with OG 1.057, transferred to secondary at 1.029 after 3 weeks at 12 deg and dropped to 2 deg – has been there lagering a few weeks. Now that it’s in the secondary, would it be too late to add some more yeast to start it fermenting again? I currently have a second beer which has stopped around 1.024 after 7 days at 11 deg. As the fridge is temporarily at a higher temp, it would be a good opportunity to add more yeast to both to finish off then lager both simultaneously. Hope this makes sense, would appreciate thoughts.
What are you using to check the gravity?
I use a refractometer, readings adjusted for temperature.
What was your beginninh and ending refractometer reading on an example batch?
Hi, some examples above. OG 1.057, FG 1.029. Currently lagering.
What were the actual refractometer readings?
Sorry, not sure I follow. If you mean in Brix, I didn’t read this – read the specific gravity directly from the refractometer. Interestingly, though, I put the hydrometer in the kettle for another batch and it read 1.057 vs 1.052 on the refractometer. I assumed that it was higher due to suspended solids in the liquid.
OK, that’s the problem. You need to use a conversion equation or a calculator to convert the FG from Brix to SG. Let’s say your 1.057 to 1.029 case was around 14 Brix to a final reading of 7.3 Brix. 14 is about 1.057 if using as an OG and 7.3 is about 1.029 if using that as an OG reading. After accounting for the impact of ethanol on the refractometer reading, the 7.3 as an FG converts to about 1.013 fir about 77% AA! Look up conversion calculators.
Interesting, if correct it sounds like I’m getting much heavier beers than I thought – explains why they don’t taste sweet. I was thinking either I need to add a tonne more yeast or my grain was not converting to fermentable sugars. Thing is, my refractometer has both Brix and SG – so, what you’re saying is that I should disregard the SG reading and convert from Brix? I assumed that this calibration is taken into account by the refractometer to enable reading directly. I might try and drop a hydrometer in at the end to see if I get the same reading as the refractometer.
Thanks for your help.
Yeah you cant read it straight from the refractometer. Definitely try a hydrometer reading. I used to compare the hydrometer with every refractometer calculated FG but they were always so similar that i stopped using a hydrometer. I dont use a finishing hydrometer though.
Using refractometers for OG is very effective as a straight reading.
For FG it needs to be calculated, as the alcohol in the wort is altering the measurement.
I have just worked this out today, after taking readings from a test batch at the end of a d-rest ramp up, being 1.021 through the refrac, and reading 1.006 using the hydrometer.
Here is some good reading from Brewers Friend…
https://www.brewersfriend.com/2013/04/24/using-your-refractometer-correctly-for-maximum-accuracy-in-home-brewing/
https://www.brewersfriend.com/refractometer-calculator/
FYI – I work at a craft microbrewery that specialises in cask ales. This is my first lager and first use of a refractometer, which gave consistent measurement with the hydrometer for OG, but vastly different for SG.
Love brewing and the brewing community!
Just made my first lager (festbier) this way….came out fantastic!!!! Thanks a whole new world just opened up! keep on rockin in the free world!
Does step 3 do anything other than clarification (and the associated flavor changes with that)? My beer is very very clear after 3 days. Is it done? Or could I wait a bit longer? I’m thinking about kegging this weekend.
It’s completely up to you. If it’s clear in the fermenter, especially if the beer is still warm, that’s not a guarantee it’ll be clear when served. Either way, if it tastes good, that’s what matters.
Hi Marshall!
I had a question about the..
Alternate Option 2
If super bright beer is something you pine for, as I do, and you’re okay with putting animal products in your beer, as I am, consider adding gelatin once the temp of the beer has reached 50°F (10°C). In my experience, this has significantly decreased the amount of time required for the beer to clear to commercial levels, I usually end up kegging 24-48 hours after adding the gelatin.
If I were to not use gelatin in a commercial level and let it sit in a bright tank would it still have the bright beer that we all pine for in time?
I’ve no personal experience with using gelatin on such large batches, but I know of a few commercial brewers who use it with success.
Hi Marshall,
Thanks for this method, I’ve used it a few times now and had great results. I normally bump the temperature straight up, rather than a gradual increase.
Question. In the quest for a quick turnaround, I’m really keen to try L-17 at ale temp. Should I build a starter of Ale pitching cell count or Lager cell count?!
Pitch rate is a function of ferm temp, so if you’re fermenting at ale temps, go with ale pitch rates.
“German brewers began making lager beers long before the advent of controllable refrigeration”
Not true!
By the time the first german lagers were released to the world breweriea had incorporated refrigeration and also filtration systems.
Hey! Love you content! You make brewing more fun and less stressful! I was confused at first reading this and listening to the podcast but then you say at the end 66° fermentation it’s just as good as this more complex method. It would be good perhaps to include a note/update on this article of that. Thanks for all you do for brewing.
I’m trying to understand the reason for removing the temperature probe? What is the difference? I have a Grainfather conical fermenter and cant do that anyway. The temperature probe is inbuilt. I also believe I cant really get below 4 degrees Celsius. Should I just go down to 10 and add my gelatine?
It’s not necessary
Hi there! Love your site. I just tested my Pilsner today at day four and fermentation was already complete! I was shocked. This is my first lager. I went ahead and ramped up right away to 67 for a D rest. Did I screw anything up? Should I test earlier next time based on visible signs of fermentation?
What’s the reason for switching the temp probe away from the fermenter to start measuring the ambient temp?