secondary lager fermentation

i have been reading "New Brewing Lager Beer" by Gregory J. Noonan and didn't understand a few things.

he refers to a secondary fermentation and also a lagering period. the author lists them as two separate things and says that a secondary fermentation will reduce lagering times..but doesn't distinguish between them at all.

so after your primary is done you rack to secondary..then do your secondary fermentation...then lager. do you have to re-rack?

it seems like after your high kraeusen falls you can do your diacetyl rest if you wish...then rack to your secondary. how do you know when secondary is done and its time to move on to lagering?

wyeast's web site also has some information on lagering that seems about the same but it still leaves me confused.

Wyeast Laboratories : Home Enthusiasts : Brewers : Technical Information : Lager Brewing


thanks

Noonan's way with Primary, Secondary, and Lagering being 3 different things is good from a brewing science perspective, but in the homebrew world, I just don't think it's practical or necessary. I could see doing it if you were going to lager in kegs (under pressure), but other than that the benefits don't outweigh the trouble of racking another time. The typical schedule for homebrewers is primary, diacytel rest (if applicable and in primary), rack to secondary/lagering, bottle or serve (if lagering in keg). This doesn't seem to negatively affect the beer in any noticable way.

so why would you lager under pressure?

thevalkrye said:

so why would you lager under pressure?

Click to expand...

Simply to keep the oxygen out and the CO2 in.

So, when your lager is in secondary/lagering (i.e. off the yeast cake of primary fermentation) do you have an airlock on the top of the bucket/carboy or should it be entirely airtight as possible?

Airlock is fine. You don't want a carboy or bucket airtight for lagering because there is a possibility of some CO2 being produced during lagering. Plus if you removed it from cold temperature for bottling, CO2 would come out of solution, which would also be a possible scenario for creating too much pressure.