Looking for ideas for a lager and beer that needs to age.

Master

So, I was involuntarily recalled to active duty in the Navy. (yeah, wife is THRILLED.. Not.) War's over my behind.

What this means is I have the following things going on:

On tap:
Murphy's Law Imperial Stout
Pineapple Cider

Carbing up:
Bitter JO IIPA (Bitter is the attitude, not the style)
Just transferred this out of my conical yesterday. Keg for me on gas, keg for my friend who made the original batch.

In the Fermenter:
Pear-Apple-Strawberry Cider. Went in last night as soon as the conical was sanitized. These are usually done in a week or so.

Equipment I have:
Grain Mill
50A BTB system.
It's a pseudo Kal system, I have a 15g HLT, Keggle MLT, and a cheap 10g Boil kettle. Slowly upgrading as finances allow.
Stir plate/flask for making starters
14 gallon SS Brewtech Chronical BME. Has cooling and heating.

It all lives in my garage in Virginia Beach. I have a foam box I'm building to insulate the fermenter. Cold source is a keg of sanitizer/water in my kegerator. It will hold down to about 47F at current outside temps with a pretty vigorous ferment going.

Here is what I have for time:
Oct 14 or so I leave for Afghanistan until somewhere in the Christmas-New Years window.

February 17 I leave for up to a year.

What I would like to try:

Do some sort of Lager beer, thinking a Pilsner type. I would be able to brew it and get it running before I leave. It would be in the temp controlled conical for the time I am gone. So about 60-75 days. I think I could get it brewed somewhere around the 7th, and then on the 13th is the last time I would be able to do anything to it until I return. FWIW, I left a batch of Electric IPA in the then plastic bucket fermenter in my closet for almost three months back in February and it turned out awesome.

Then, when I come back, brew something that would be completely ready to store long term in a keg by Feb 14 or so.. So whatever it needs be it dry hopping, or whatever, it needs to be out of my conical and in a keg where it can just hang out either at room temperature or at Fridge temp for at least six months.

I'm normally an Ale, Stout, Porter guy for homebrew, only because lack of temp control kept me there until this batch of BitterJO which was my first batch in the conical.

Any ideas for styles, recipes, etc would be appreciated. I'm sure there is some awesome beer out there I've never considered either because I lacked the temp control for fermenting other than ales, or I was too impatient to want to have a keg of something aging for 6+ months.

Master · Posted: Fri Sep 30, 2016 3:59 pm Post subject:

Forgot to add:

I also have pure Oxygen available to oxygenate the wort. (and a stone on a tri clover)

**kal** · Posted: Fri Sep 30, 2016 4:32 pm Post subject:

Sounds like you can brew Oct 7th and have to leave Oct 14th until late December. One week's not really enough time to ferment out a lager. Even when I brew something like a Pils around 5% and pitch a crap-load of yeast it takes ~10 days to ferment out at 52F. Can you start earlier? The mid Oct to late Dec timeframe (2.5 months) is more than enough to condition any 5-6% lager to be very smooth and drinkable for when you get back. If you can get it in kegs on gas at near 32F for those 2 months it'll be perfect when you get back. To save time I'd leave it in the fermenter until you keg the day you leave (no brite tank/secondary so no gelatine). It'll settle out crystal clear in the 2.5 months you're gone.

Suggestions if you can start earlier than Oct 7th (ideal would be 10 days fermenting, or better yet 14):

German Pilsner (batch #195): http://www.theelectricbrewery.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=28729
Standard Lager (batch #146): http://www.theelectricbrewery.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=26360
Munich Helles (batch #116): http://www.theelectricbrewery.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=25442
Premium Lager (batch #123): http://www.theelectricbrewery.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=25429
Schwarzbier (batch #197): http://www.theelectricbrewery.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=28973
Bohemian Pilsner (batch #141): http://www.theelectricbrewery.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=26537

If you're really stuck with 7 days fermenting, brew a pseudo-lager that'll get done sooner but will still benefit from the 2.5 months of conditioning after:

Kölsch (batch #163): http://www.theelectricbrewery.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=26737
California Common (batch #186): http://www.theelectricbrewery.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=28408
Cream Ale: http://www.theelectricbrewery.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=26360
Blonde Ale: http://www.theelectricbrewery.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=25429
Düsseldorf Altbier (batch #198): http://www.theelectricbrewery.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=29013

Then you have from the start of the new year until Feb 14th - about 6 weeks. That's enough time to ferment anything (ale/lager/whatever) and have it kegged. If you're not going to touch it for a year after it's kegged, you could brew some sort of very strong lager like a Doppelbock (7-10%) or Eisbock (9-14%) or a very strong ale.

Suggestions:

Russian Imperial Stout (batch #172): http://www.theelectricbrewery.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=27428
American Barleywine (batch #117): http://www.theelectricbrewery.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=25256
Belgian Tripel (batch #194): http://www.theelectricbrewery.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=28755

During either timeframe I would stay away from hop forward beers (Pale Ales, IPAs, etc) as the hops will fade too much over time, especially during the year absence.

Good luck!

Kal

**kal**