Lagering my Dusseldorf Alt - Question

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sonvolt

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Dusseldorf Altbier is considered a mixed style. Everything i have read indicate that it should be fermented warm with ale yeast and then lagered.

My question concerns when to lager it. Should I put it through a two week secondary like I do my other ales? Or. . . should I let it ferment out completely in primary and then drop the temperature at that point? I plan on storing this one cold for a long time either way. Any thoughts?
 
I don't think anything could be hurt by letting it ferment out completely, then dropping the temp as soon as you rack to secondary. You'll see faster clarification anyway.
 
I wouldn't bother with the secondary period. Most advice for brewing Alt says drop it straight to 0 - 4 C/ 32 - 40 F after primary and leave it for a month. Some Dusseldorf breweries innoculate the beer with a lager yeast during this period.
 
mysterio said:
I wouldn't bother with the secondary period. Most advice for brewing Alt says drop it straight to 0 - 4 C/ 32 - 40 F after primary and leave it for a month. Some Dusseldorf breweries innoculate the beer with a lager yeast during this period.
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Really . . . ? That does not sound like a bad idea? Should I pitch that prior to dropping temp? Or should I pitch cold?
 
Last winter I conditioned for a month at cellar temps (50ish) and then a month at 40 with good results. This year i am doing two weeks in the secondary at cellar and two weeks in the keg at 38 before drinking. Personally i would not add a lager yeast as the Alt yeast was a poor flocculator and I wouldn't want to end up with yeasty beer...but that's me. What would be left to ferment?
 

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