Racked to a secondary and...

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binkman

binkman

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I just racked my Oktoberfest to a carboy this weekend and put it back in the fridge to lager. I don't have a thermostat, but I do have a thermometer in there and can adjust the temp pretty accurately.

Anyway, its been in there for about 2 days now at around 34F. And... I just opened it up today to notice about 3/4 inch of what appears to be yeast on the bottom of the carboy! Is this the result of the lagering dropping the yeast out of suspension?

I swear to god the SG was constant for a week before I racked it, but in addition to this yeast accumulation, the airlock is bubbling away! As if it were 50 F in that fridge! What's going on?! Should I wait for bubbling to stop and rack to a... tertiary?

:confused:
 
binkman said:
I just racked my Oktoberfest to a carboy this weekend and put it back in the fridge to lager. I don't have a thermostat, but I do have a thermometer in there and can adjust the temp pretty accurately.

Anyway, its been in there for about 2 days now at around 34F. And... I just opened it up today to notice about 3/4 inch of what appears to be yeast on the bottom of the carboy! Is this the result of the lagering dropping the yeast out of suspension?

I swear to god the SG was constant for a week before I racked it, but in addition to this yeast accumulation, the airlock is bubbling away! As if it were 50 F in that fridge! What's going on?! Should I wait for bubbling to stop and rack to a... tertiary?

:confused:
Click to expand...

That sounds unusual- at least the airlock activity does anyway! It would be normal for the yeast to drop out like that if you lowered the temp very quickly. I drop the temp 5 degrees per day for my lagers when I go to the lagering phase.

Maybe the airlock is bubbling because you've got a change in barometric pressure or something? I don't know- but if fermentation is finished, it's not from fermentation!
 
That's happened to me a couple times when I racked to a secondary. If you want to be sure, take a gravity reading and see if it's changed.
 
Yooper said:
That sounds unusual- at least the airlock activity does anyway! It would be normal for the yeast to drop out like that if you lowered the temp very quickly. I drop the temp 5 degrees per day for my lagers when I go to the lagering phase.

Maybe the airlock is bubbling because you've got a change in barometric pressure or something? I don't know- but if fermentation is finished, it's not from fermentation!
Click to expand...

A barometer would be a good piece of equipment to have. I have one for fishing and I'll check that if I see the same phenomenon.
 
My first thought was the pressure change from the temperature change, but I could be wrong. I know nada about lagering at this point.
 
Can I keep it on the cake until September or is this a problem?

Sent from my iPhone using HB Talk
 

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