Bottling a Pilsner

[Duchifat]

Dear Brewers,
I am brewing my first Pilsner. So far it has fermented for 3 weeks at 11 degrees Celsius, had a 2 day diacetyl rest, been decantered and put in lagering at 3 degrees Celsius. Gravity is now 1.008. I plan to lager for about 5 weeks. My questions:
1. When I bottle, should I add fresh yeast?
2. At what temperature should I condition the bottled beer?
Thanks for any advice,
Michael

 

[Nosybear]

Dear Brewers,
I am brewing my first Pilsner. So far it has fermented for 3 weeks at 11 degrees Celsius, had a 2 day diacetyl rest, been decantered and put in lagering at 3 degrees Celsius. Gravity is now 1.008. I plan to lager for about 5 weeks. My questions:
1. When I bottle, should I add fresh yeast?
2. At what temperature should I condition the bottled beer?
Thanks for any advice,
Michael

1. You shouldn't need fresh yeast. There will be enough in suspension in the beer to carbonate it.
2. Carbonate at room temperature, then store as cool as possible.

 

[Bubba Wade]

I agree with Nosy. I'd go with two weeks at room temperature and 3-4 weeks chilled. Two weeks should be plenty of time to carbonate.

 

[Josh Hughes]

I did what @Bubba Wade and @Nosybear said and it worked well

 

[HighVoltageMan!]

If you lager long enough and have good flocculation of the yeast, the cell count can get pretty low. Most times there is enough yeast to carb. But if it gets super low, the bottles will take a long time to carb up. If you think you have cleared the beer to that point, one of the best yeasts to add is Nottingham. Nottingham drops really nice and forms a layer on the bottom that isn't easily disturbed.

If the beer looks like my profile picture, add a 1/2 pack of Nottingham or even SO4. There is almost no yeast at that point.

 

[Josh Hughes]

But if you bottle carb first then lager those you will have plenty of yeast for sure

 

[Nosybear]

If you lager long enough and have good flocculation of the yeast, the cell count can get pretty low. Most times there is enough yeast to carb. But if it gets super low, the bottles will take a long time to carb up. If you think you have cleared the beer to that point, one of the best yeasts to add is Nottingham. Nottingham drops really nice and forms a layer on the bottom that isn't easily disturbed.

If the beer looks like my profile picture, add a 1/2 pack of Nottingham or even SO4. There is almost no yeast at that point.

Unless you filtered it, there are still about 100,000 cells per milliliter of that beer. Plenty to carbonate.

 

[HighVoltageMan!]

Unless you filtered it, there are still about 100,000 cells per milliliter of that beer. Plenty to carbonate.

Polished beers, whether filtered or naturally occurring during lagering have very little yeast. The only caveat in a lager beer that Is not filtered some yeast can be stirred up during the transfer to another vessel. Home brewers can produce polished beers. You don’t have to worry about unless the beer is perfectly clear It will carbonate, but it may take longer than a beer with a greater density of yeast. You would only add the yeast to speed up the process.

 

[Duchifat]

Nosybear, Bubba, Josh and HighVoltageMan: Thank you all for your advice!
Michael