How to ferment BD Vienna Lager

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steelsacrifice
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How to ferment BD Vienna Lager

Post by steelsacrifice »

Hi! I just purchased and brewed my first kit. I did the Pale Ale that comes with the Brewdemon LBC. When I bottle that batch I'm going to start the Vienna Lager recipe.

In the instructions it says to ferment at 64-82. From what I see on the net most ferment at a colder temp and then condition at around 35-40. Should I follow the BD recipe?

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Re: How to ferment BD Vienna Lager

Post by LouieMacGoo »

The BrewDemon Vienna lager isn't actually a true lager. It uses an ale yeast instead of a lager yeast so you will want to use the BrewDemon instructions and ferment it just as you did the pale ale.

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bpgreen
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Re: How to ferment BD Vienna Lager

Post by bpgreen »

82 seems really high. Are you sure that's the upper limit? I try to stay close to the lower end of the range even if that's not a mistake.
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John Sand
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Re: How to ferment BD Vienna Lager

Post by John Sand »

If I recall, the kits often use a very wide temperature range for fermenting. The mid to upper 60's is probably best.
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steelsacrifice
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Re: How to ferment BD Vienna Lager

Post by steelsacrifice »

LouieMacGoo wrote:The BrewDemon Vienna lager isn't actually a true lager. It uses an ale yeast instead of a lager yeast so you will want to use the BrewDemon instructions and ferment it just as you did the pale ale.

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Good to know! Thanks for clarifying.

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steelsacrifice
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Re: How to ferment BD Vienna Lager

Post by steelsacrifice »

John Sand wrote:If I recall, the kits often use a very wide temperature range for fermenting. The mid to upper 60's is probably best.
Welcome aboard Steel! Please keep us up on your brewing adventures.
I think you're right. The kits seem to allow for a lot more variability than what I see others say is good.

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steelsacrifice
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Re: How to ferment BD Vienna Lager

Post by steelsacrifice »

bpgreen wrote:82 seems really high. Are you sure that's the upper limit? I try to stay close to the lower end of the range even if that's not a mistake.
I checked again to make sure and that's what it says. Maybe moving my fermenter to a closet would help keep things cooler. I'm in Tennessee so my room temp stays around 72-75 on most days.

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Re: How to ferment BD Vienna Lager

Post by LouieMacGoo »

The instructions that come with the kit will let you make beer but many of the brewers here have found that tweaking those instructions will allow you to make better beer. One of our members Yankeedag wrote a good article called Simple Guide to Brewing which is really targeted at brewers such as you that get started with the BrewDemon and Mr. Beer kits. I think you might find that information helpful.

If you want to try to keep your fermentation temps down many have used coolers to put the fermenters in and rotate ice packs (frozen water bottles) in and out of the cooler to maintain a lower temperature. I'm sure others can provide more info about how they've done that.

Lastly :bbwelc: We're glad you found us and please continue to ask questions and let us know how your brewing is going!

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Find out more about Yeast, Hops, Grains and Cleaning & Sanitizing
Whats Brewing

Fermenting:
#40 - Citra-Nilla Cream Ale IPA - Brewed:9/20/15

Conditioning:
#39 - Dead Fly IPA - Brewed: 8/29/15 Bottled: 9/27/15
#38 - Apricot Hefeweizen (Colab w/Adam at SOL)- Brewed: 8/8/15

Drinking
#36 - Summer Wheat: Oberon Clone - Brewed: 7/11/15
#37 - Hickory Bourbon Honey Porter - Brewed: 7/18/15
#33 - Younger No. 1 Scottish Strong Ale - Brewed: 3/29/15
#28 - Hard Mulled Cider, Brewed 10/11/14 Kegged
#29 - Strawberry Lime Cider, Brewed/10/19/14 Kegged

Gone
#34 - Second Runnings IPA - Brewed: 3/29/15
#32 - Harvest Nugget Smash v2 (TBD) Brewed 11/27/14
#35 - Columbus Pale Ale - Brewed: 5/02/15
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TonyKZ1
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Re: How to ferment BD Vienna Lager

Post by TonyKZ1 »

Hello and welcome to the site. I use a fermenter cooler from Cool Brewing along with frozen water bottles, it keeps the temp down to mid 60's or even lower. I'm currently fermenting a 5G cream ale recipe from Midwest Supplies split into 2 of the BrewDemon LBCs.
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steelsacrifice
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Re: How to ferment BD Vienna Lager

Post by steelsacrifice »

TonyKZ1 wrote:Hello and welcome to the site. I use a fermenter cooler from Cool Brewing along with frozen water bottles, it keeps the temp down to mid 60's or even lower. I'm currently fermenting a 5G cream ale recipe from Midwest Supplies split into 2 of the BrewDemon LBCs.
That's an awesome product. That's something I'll definitely look into.

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Re: How to ferment BD Vienna Lager

Post by swenocha »

Where in Tennessee (asks the resident TN brewer)?
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nada... zip...

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nada... zip... maybe an N/A beer here and there...
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Re: How to ferment BD Vienna Lager

Post by RickBeer »

You should also condition much warmer than 35-40. For a lager, 70 or higher is recommended. Go 3 weeks fermenting, 4 weeks (or more) conditioning, then refrigerate for at least 3 days.
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Re: How to ferment BD Vienna Lager

Post by Whamolagan »

Welcome to the forum. Everything good has been said. One thing you want to try and avoid is temperature swings. Try to keep the temps even as possible.
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steelsacrifice
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Re: How to ferment BD Vienna Lager

Post by steelsacrifice »

swenocha wrote:Where in Tennessee (asks the resident TN brewer)?
Chattanooga

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steelsacrifice
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Re: How to ferment BD Vienna Lager

Post by steelsacrifice »

Whamolagan wrote:Welcome to the forum. Everything good has been said. One thing you want to try and avoid is temperature swings. Try to keep the temps even as possible.
Is there a point when temp swings should worry me? As in 5 degree fluctuations are OK but 10 degree are bad?

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