Airborneguy

Recipes 

Due to a scheduling conflict, I'm looking to brew a porter before I leave for my cruise. My vienna lager will be finished lagering, but I won't have time to keg it before I leave. Since I won't be home to monitor my rubbermaid bin temperature control set-up, I'm going to have to put the porter in my fermentation freezer.

I'm leaning towards leaving the lager in with it, even though the temp will be set to about 64º since it's pretty much finished lagering anyway. I usually put my lagers right on tap, so I've never had this problem before.

Any suggestions?

__________________
Fermentor(s):
Lagering:
Kegged: Unintentional Sour Brown, Citra/Amarillo IPA
Bottled:
Tapped:
Up Next: Amber?

Reading: The Road to ---- Retirement

shelly_belly

Recipes 

I made an Oktoberfest lager last March and its been in my only chest freezer since then. I've made several ales since also and they fermented in the freezer. I tapped the Oktoberfest Monday and it is delicious.

Airborneguy

Recipes 

So no issues changing temps every so often for the ales?

__________________
Fermentor(s):
Lagering:
Kegged: Unintentional Sour Brown, Citra/Amarillo IPA
Bottled:
Tapped:
Up Next: Amber?

Reading: The Road to ---- Retirement

Yooper

Recipes 

Boy, I'd try my best to keg the lager now and lager it in the keg. I sure wouldn't want to store it at 64 degrees if I didn't absolutely have to. It probably wouldn't really hurt it, but I'm extra cautious about beers that I spent three months on!

__________________
Broken Leg Brewery
Giving beer a leg to stand on since 2006

shelly_belly

Recipes 

Not that I can tell. Also, I like to bottle beer but I don't like sediment. So, I keg then bottle. I carb cold, bottle, then store at room temperature. Most of the beer I've made is still great 1 to 2 years later. Until I get more freezers, fermentation control takes preference - this seems (to me) to be the biggest factor in making great beer.

FastEddie212

Recipes 

I am just making my first lager which happens to also be an Octoberfest. The recipe calls for lowering the temp gradually over about 8-10 days from 54 degrees down to 38 degrees which is the temp used to lager for 3-4 weeks. I am 1 week into that process now. Since I don't need the freezer right away, would more time at 38 degrees continue to improve my batch? And should I only refrigerate this batch once bottled or can it be stored at around 70 degrees in my basement without causing issues?

shelly_belly...what recipe did you use for the Octoberfest you've had lagering for a year?

shelly_belly

Recipes 

Yooper

Recipes 

Generally, when you lager warmer then it doesn't need to lager as long. I like to lager at 34 degrees, so it takes a little bit longer. If you're lagering at 38 degrees, I'd still try to go one week for every 8-10 points of OG. I don't think three weeks is very long at all.

__________________
Broken Leg Brewery
Giving beer a leg to stand on since 2006

FastEddie212

Recipes 

Thanks Yooper...

This forum is a fantastic learning opportunity. I've never heard anyone state that there was some sort of benchmark for lagering time. That is very helpful to know and I'll certainly keep it in mind going forward. Your 8-10 point method would work out to about six weeks or so meaning my 3-4 weeks is a bit on the short side. While I'm anxious to drink my brew, I'm more anxious for it to be as good as it can be when I do. I'm finding that many of my batches have just continued to get better with age. I'm sure that is within reason. So far, I've consumed all the bottles before getting to that point. I made Better Brew's HopNog back in late February and am down to just a couple bottles left. It has gotte better and better with age!

Homercidal

Recipes 

I don't see a problem if it's done lagering. How long is it going to sit at that temp?