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So I've been doing this for nearly a decade, and I think I'm doing well - no, I know I'm doing well, but sometimes the science stumps me.
I have mostly brewed ales, but a few lagers here and there, and also building up supplies and equipment to brew what I want, when I want. Building up equipment means that I now have the capacity to maintain lower temps and the space to let beer sit for a few weeks. So I brewed a couple of lagers back and I knew how dynamite they would be. They're not.
NO off flavors, no yeast issues, nice clear beer. But too sweet. No sugar or honey or sweetener in either recipe.
I have two thoughts. 1) I used a single infusion mash. I wonder if I should step mash the lagers. Am I not getting all the fermentables from the mash? Would I get a drier, crisper beer if I rested at 125f and 148f? 2) What I hear about a diacetyl rest is to warm the beer as you near the end of fermentation and give it about 48 hours at about 68f. Then ferment it out fully at 55f before cold crashing. Could I be rushing the D rest? Am I interrupting the fermentation by going too quickly to the D rest, and therefore leaving sugars in the wort?
Are there other ideas that I am missing? Bueller? Anyone?
I have mostly brewed ales, but a few lagers here and there, and also building up supplies and equipment to brew what I want, when I want. Building up equipment means that I now have the capacity to maintain lower temps and the space to let beer sit for a few weeks. So I brewed a couple of lagers back and I knew how dynamite they would be. They're not.
NO off flavors, no yeast issues, nice clear beer. But too sweet. No sugar or honey or sweetener in either recipe.
I have two thoughts. 1) I used a single infusion mash. I wonder if I should step mash the lagers. Am I not getting all the fermentables from the mash? Would I get a drier, crisper beer if I rested at 125f and 148f? 2) What I hear about a diacetyl rest is to warm the beer as you near the end of fermentation and give it about 48 hours at about 68f. Then ferment it out fully at 55f before cold crashing. Could I be rushing the D rest? Am I interrupting the fermentation by going too quickly to the D rest, and therefore leaving sugars in the wort?
Are there other ideas that I am missing? Bueller? Anyone?