Pressure Fermented Lager in 14 Days: A Game-Changing Experiment

 

At The Malt Miller, we’re always exploring new techniques to help homebrewers create exceptional beer. Recently, we conducted an exciting experiment that challenges traditional lager brewing conventions: creating a quality lager in just two weeks using pressure fermentation.

Traditional lager brewing typically requires extensive fermentation and conditioning periods, often stretching to several months. The German word “lager” itself refers to storing or maturing beer for extended periods. However, with modern pressure fermentation techniques, we wondered if we could significantly reduce this timeline while maintaining quality.

Our Experimental Setup

We brewed a single batch of lager and split it between two 10-liter Fermenter King Junior vessels, each using different yeast strains. Our goal was to create a clean, simple recipe that wouldn’t hide any flaws, allowing us to truly test the effectiveness of pressure fermentation.

The Recipe:

• Base Malt: 4kg Crisp Pilsner Malt
• Specialty Malt: 300g Cara Pils (for foam stability)
• Hops: Saaz (20g each at 60, 30, and 15 minutes)

Yeast Comparison:

• Fermenter 1: Fermentis W-34/70 (a versatile, well-known lager strain)
• Fermenter 2: White Labs WLP802 Budejovice Lager Yeast

The Process: We conducted a straightforward single-infusion mash using a brew-in-a-bag system, followed by a 60-minute boil with our hop additions. After chilling, we split the wort between the two pressure fermenters, set them to 15 PSI, and left them at ambient warehouse temperatures (varying between 10-30°C over 24 hours) for seven days. Following fermentation, we cold-crashed the beers for an additional week.

The Results

After just 14 days, we were genuinely astonished by the results. Both beers exhibited remarkable clarity and proper lager characteristics, with no off-flavors typically associated with warm fermentation.

The W-34/70 version showed:

• Slight haze compared to its counterpart
• Clean fermentation profile
• Pleasant, subtle sulfur notes
• Distinctive bready undertones

The Budejovice version displayed:

• Brilliant clarity
• Honey-like aromatics
• Complex malt character
• Slightly more sweetness
• Authentic Czech lager characteristics

The real surprise was achieving these results without temperature control, relying solely on pressure fermentation to suppress off-flavor production. When served through a side-pull tap, both beers developed beautiful, dense foam heads that would make any lager brewer proud.

Future Improvements

While extremely pleased with the results, we identified some potential improvements for future batches:

• Adding Melanoidin malt for enhanced malt complexity
• Incorporating decoction mashing techniques
• Experimenting with first runnings reduction for added depth
• Scaling up batch size for larger yields

Implications for Homebrewers

This experiment demonstrates that quality lager production is accessible to brewers without sophisticated temperature control systems. Using pressure fermentation, apartment brewers or those with limited space can produce excellent lagers at room temperature, opening up a whole new world of brewing possibilities.

Our pressure fermentation experiment has revolutionized our approach to lager brewing. While traditional extended lagering periods certainly have their place, this method offers an excellent alternative for producing quality lagers in a fraction of the time. We’re excited to continue exploring pressure fermentation with different styles and larger vessels in future experiments.