tl;dr 2 week limit in lager fermenting fridge and it starts this Sunday.
In case you haven't been following along in the developing lager guidelines thread, we are going to begin experimenting with some ways to ensure fair access for all to our limited lagering resources, as it's become a bit of an issue lately. You can pop over to that thread for the full details, but I wanted to make an announcement so that it will reach the widest possible audience. We are going to be pragmatic about this and look for ways to streamline and better serve all members with these guidelines, these aren't rules for rules sake or anything like that, the sole intent is to ensure fair and equal access to all brewers, not just a select few, so your feedback is appreciated as we settle in on what works and what doesn't, there may be some growing pains as we find out what doesn't work, I ask for your patience and courtesy as we experiment and see this through. The intent is to take the sign up sheet digital in a google doc or even built in like the brew bay reservation system, but we'll get there. Until we can get that up and running, good ol pencil and paper will rule the day. Chief among these new lagering guidelines is a 2 week limit in the lager fermenting chamber. That will go in to effect on Sunday. Sunday is the Day of Reckoning for Lagers. Everything in there on Sunday will only be allowed in there for 2 more weeks. Please be aware and plan accordingly. If everyone uses better bottles with blowoffs I believe the capacity of the fermenting fridge is 8 fermenters total. so 52 weeks/2 weeks per fermenter=24 turnovers x 8 spaces=208 5 gallon batches. With a 2 week limit at 8 fermenters in the fridge we can max out at 208 batches through there a year which I feel is more than adequate. So let's give this a whirl and see how it goes, your patience, cooperation, and courtesy is appreciated. Thanks.
Just for clarity and redundancy, here is where we are at right now. This is the first iteration of rules we will try and then modify as necessary.
1. You will clearly mark your name, contact info, date in and date out on both a carboy tag AND the signup sheet. There will also be an on-deck list for the signup sheet, space will be granted in the order folks sign up for.
2. You are limited to 1 carboy at a time in the lager fermenting chamber. There will be an exception for 10 gallon batches. Only 1 person at a time may use the 10 gallon batch exception.
3. You are limited to a 2 week fermentation period in the lager fermentation chamber. If you go over your two weeks, the next brewer scheduled to be in the lager fermentation chamber will contact you via the number on your carboy tag to politely inform you that it's time for a D-rest and you will find your carboy in the ale ferm room. It is perfectly ok to store your beer at ale temps at this point, it's actually beneficial and something you should do anyway. However, be a team player and get your stuff out on time. If you can't, that's fine, life and emergencies happen, just be cool about it, make a post on the forum, reach out to someone to move it for you, be a good citizen, just don't screw over the next folks in line and ruin their brew day by denying them the space they signed up for.
4. If it's your brew day and there is no space in the lager fermenting fridge, look on the signup sheet and find the oldest fermenter in there, contact that person, be courteous and work with them on a solution to get their beer out so you can get your's in by the end of your boil.
5. You are encouraged to use better bottles with blowoffs, their dimensions allow for more fermenters to fit.
Link to aforementioned other thread, for reference: https://www.chaosbrewclub.net/forum/general-discussion/developing-lager-...
Something to keep in mind for all of us doing the Goose Island Home Brew Club. This months beer is a doppelbock, so room in there will be of the essence. Is the front fridge under the bar of use at all for lagers if it isn't being used as a hot box right now? I have zero experience with lagers so sorry if that is a dumb question.
Hey, I have a carboy I put in there last week. I don't think I can be there in two weeks. How do I get this "added"
Kris, I will be taping off spaces on Sunday, and then add what's in there to the reservation system. You'll have two weeks from Sunday in that space. If the system works smoothly as intended what will happen is that either, best case is that no one has that slot reserved so you could just leave it there, but what will probably happen is you reach out to someone who can move it to the ferm room for your D-rest, by sending a message or making a forum post or a phone call etc. or the next person who has that space reserved next will reach out to you and offer to slide it on over for you, or keg it, or put it straight in the lagering chamber for you, etc. It's gonna take a little teamwork, I expect there to be bumps, but overwhelmingly the club is chock full of great folks and I think this can work smoothly once we iron out the kinks and get the process flowing. Worst case scenario is that you would be unreachable by whomever is scheduled next...life happens, no biggie...and you get a text/forum message/Facebook message to the effect of "Hey Bro, I tried reaching out to you about the space in the lager fridge, I had to get in there because I brewed today, I gently and courteously relocated your carboy to the ferm room on the middle shelf in the front for its D-rest, cheers." Which is a perfectly acceptable practice, fermentation is complete by this time and the yeast need a little wake up to take out the trash, so to speak. Just like everything with lagers this process is a little more finicky than ale brewing, but we are doing our best to be fair and share our space.
I'm a little confused. I have a keg already in the fermenter and it needs 4 weeks. It went in before this list.
Can we please add this keg to the list as "grandfathered" for march9th to april 9th? Seems fair.
Oh, hey, just be clear... I"m talking about the "lagering fridge"... not the 'lagering fermentor"
Oh, ok...no problem at all there. I was very specifically referring to the lager fermentation chamber, you're talking about the lagering fridge, no worries, as it stands we have 2,4, and 6 week reservations in their. You're all good.
Whew. Ok!
Thanks!
...or you could just use the reservation system to reserve the spot you already reside in for the next few weeks, and then you definitely won't have to worry about it...
http://tinfoilhatbrewery.com/
You volunteering to fill out that sheet for me Matt? ;)
I won't be at the club for awhile.
This sheet here, Kris: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1B2Plkm9OdfBhcXFcHJTnP9WNp13-fpaq...
We'll hopefully get it worked into the reservation system we already have set up soon.
Ok I added myself on there. Like Kris I have some pilsner in there that was lagering (in the lagering chamber) before this system went up so I added tehm to the schedule for 2 more weeks.
Just an FYI for anyone brewing the goose island beer. Josh and I hooked up the temperature controller to the front fridge to make it perfect for Lagering right now. I also scrubbed the hell out of the inside and cleaned it out with bleach cleaner because it was disgusting. It was full of that lacto from the goose Berliner. I have my reservation still in the system for the Lagering fridge but won't be using the space of anyone wants it. It looked like there was room for 2 other fermentors today.
Thanks for getting the front fridge in order!
Todd - I'm going to take your spot so I can brew this tomorrow instead of next week. I'll update the sheet later today.
Rich... Sounds good.