Need some advice from seasoned Lagerers.
Posted: Fri Apr 21, 2006 7:31 pm
My first Lager(maibock) has been at 37
Dwayne:
Yes, it's acetaldehyde (more like Jolly Rancher's Sour Apple candy).
Yes, it should be reduced considerably, but not at 38F -- you should start out at fermentation temp and drop to 40F over about a week. You may also want to raise the temp up to 60 to 65 for a day first to get rid of any diacetyl and probably the acetaldehyde.
Normally acetaldehyde will go away on it's own -- the normal maturation of bottle conditioned or unfiltered kegged beer, but very low temps will cause it to hang around a while.
You should lager at least a week for each 2 degrees of initial gravity if you follow the "book" -- meaning most strong lagers require three months or more!
Peter