Brewing Northern Brewer Lager Kits

Supplement to the General Extract Beer Kit Instructions

Additional requirements

In addition to standard brewing equipment, you will need the following to brew lagers:

• yeast starter kit
• wort chiller
• A 5 gallon carboy for a secondary fermenter
• A “lager cellar” with a constant temperature between 48°F and 58°F- ideally a refrigerator or freezer with an overriding thermostat; a very cold basement or unheated room may work

Adjustments to Extract Brewing Procedure

All other steps in the General Extract Beer Kit Instructions remain unchanged.

Before you brew

Prepare a yeast starter. Lagers will achieve the best results with a yeast starter. For information on preparing a yeast starter, please see http://docs.northernbrewer.com/yeast_starter_kit.html.

On Brewing Day

6. Cool the wort. Use a wort chiller to cool the wort to as close to the primary fermentation temperature as possible – e.g., if your beer will ferment at 55°F, try to chill the wort to as close to 55°F as your tap water allows.

Fermentation

Fermentation temperature: Temperature is especially critical for lagers. Every yeast strain performs best within a specific range of temperatures, which can be found in the Kit Inventory. You will achieve the best results if the primary fermentation of your beer stays within the recommended temperature range of the yeast you are using.

Fermentation stages

• Primary Fermentation: Primary fermentation for lagers should be finished in about two weeks, but may very likely take longer – when in doubt, err on the side of a longer primary for a lager.
• Secondary Fermentation: Drop the temperature to begin the lagering phase. Lower the temperature to 35° – 40°F.
  • OK - “crash” the temperature directly down to 35° – 40°F
  • Better - use a thermostat to lower the temperature gradually, a couple degrees per day

Bottling and conditioning

16. Mix beer and priming solution. If your lagering phase lasted more than 6 or 8 weeks, there may not be enough yeast left in suspension to carbonate the bottles. As a precaution, you may wish to

• Option A - siphon a tablespoon or so of sediment (dormant yeast cells) from the bottom of the carboy into the bottling bucket, along with the beer.
• Option B - add another pack of yeast to the bottling bucket