Lagering
 

Hi,

I'm quite new at homebrewing and not quite sure to understand the lagering process for an ale...when should it be done and for how long? Is this needed if I'm bottling?

Tha ms

'Lagering' as a verb as in 'to lager' just refers to cold storage. You can bottle your beer and then store it in the fridge or you can put the whole carboy in the fridge and that is technically 'lagering'. It is not necessary for ales or lagers, though it can improve clarity and taste.

If I store my beer in a carboy, will I have to raise the temp before priming&bottling?

At the time of bottling, you just need to take into account the temperature of your beer because there is more dissolved CO2 in a cold liquid than a warm one. After you have bottled your beer, you should keep the temperature around 70 degrees F while the bottles carbonate. Here is a nice link to help with this: http://kotmf.com/tools/prime.php

Thanks!

I figure that if I rais temp after bottling , this should be done slowly to avoid any heat stress...?

Nah, I wouldn't worry about it. Just leave the bottles out of the fridge.