American Lager

8/31/2019--Made a 4-liter 1.050 starter--pitched yeast at 1900.

9/10/2019--1.058/14.3. Near as I can remember, I pitched yeast at about midnight.

This and the Bohemian have been cooking for a week--I replaced the blow off tubes with water-locks. It was less vigorous than an ale but it was active longer.

10/2/2019--1.018/4.6. Raised the temp to 65 F for a diacetyl rest--it has been at 65 F for about 3 days now. Decided to take a sample and see where the fermentation is. The beer is cloudy but it smells and tastes good. This one has a hop forward character to it. Not hoppy like an IPA but the magnum hops are aggressive. Otherwise, it already tastes like a Michelob.

This one is not quite finished fermenting. There is still some airlock activity and the beer was bubbling when I took the sample. I did some reading and decided to do an extended diacetyl rest so this beer can terminate, i.e., zero airlock activity. I'm certain the other one is done at this point. A few more days should do it. Then I'll keg and lager and carbonate both beers at the same time.

10/7/2018--The airlock was quiet yesterday when I checked it. Today, I lowered the temp to 34 F for lagering. It should take a day or two to get there. Next weekend I'll rack both beers into kegs and start carbonating them.

I have all of the hardware--carbonating lids, a new CO2 regulator, and the CO2 bottle. Ima fill the 5-pound CO2 bottle this week or next weekend so I can carbonate the lagers in the keg while they're in the lagering stage.

I think a week at the lower temp will help a lot of yeast fall out early. Then, when I keg it I'll add gelatin. Methinks this is going to be some crystal clear brew in about 6 weeks.

10/21/2019--1.018/4.6. Looks like it is happy at 1.018. I racked it into a corny with 1-sachet of gelatin. I stabbed it back into the keezer and put some CO2 on it. I'm going to try 4 PSI for the rest of the lager phase.

It has been lagering in the fermentor for 2-weeks already. I thought it would take a couple of days for the temperature to adjust but it was at 34 F the morning after I lowered the temperature.

2/20/2020--Moved this into the keezer last night. Pulled a glass tonight to see how it looked and it scared the hell out of me. It was cloudy and it looked grey. Almost exactly like my jug of bentonite slurry. After awhile I recovered from my shock and pulled another glass. The second one was clear as fuck, amber, and it tastes pretty good. It is still at 1.018 so it is definitely malt forward but to soon--not carbonated yet--to make an honest judgement. Nevertheless, I think it is going to be mucho-primo-good.

3/3/2020--Good beer. It is malty and sweet. I could have added more hops to this one to temper the sweetness, but it is good and slammable. The beer is crystal clear and a little darker than most American beers--golden but darker. Also, I don't know how else to describe it but I get an olive like taste on the first few sips--just like the Banquets.

3/12/2020--Good beer. It is malty--1.018 finish--