Lager in Primary or in Secondary?

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

TriangleIL

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 6, 2010
Messages
222
Reaction score
3
Location
Chicago
I just finished my primary fermentation of a munich helles, and the beer is now sitting in my living room for a 3 day diacetyl rest. (Sample tastes pretty good so far) I pulled the beer a little later than I wanted, I was waiting for the krausen to fall and it fell a little late in the process.

Anyways, now I'm contemplating the next steps. After my 3 days is it better to rack into a new vessel for 4-5 weeks @ 35-40F?

I was going to rack into a carboy originally, but now I am reading about racking to a keg with the diptube cut an inch short. I also read somewhere that it might be beneficial to leave the beer on the primary yeast cake to let the beer clean up longer.

Thoughts?
 
My preference is to rack to a secondary as the lagering process will clean the beer up. When I do a lager I let the beer sit in the primary for 3-4 weeks. By then the yeast will have cleaned up after itself and will finish the job during the 1-2 month lagering process.
 
I rack my lagers to a keg after 2-4 weeks of fermentation (depends on OG). I do not cut my dip tubes short. I do use gelatin when I keg, and anecdotally, this seemed to help stabilize the yeast that settle out so I don't get much when I tap the keg. I find my first half-pint has too much yeast and gets dumped. Usually within 4 pints, the beer is crystal clear. Of course you have to be careful about jostling the kegs around.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top