Lager problem?

It has been 2 weeks now at 50 degree primary fermentation and my og was 1.052 and now it is 1.020. The fg should be 1.007 - 1.010. What should I do? Rack to seconday and lager for 6 weeks or let it keep going?

I'm no expert on lagers, as I've never done a true lager before, but from what I've heard, it can take up to a month for fermentation to finish.

1.020 is high for a lager. It may help if you post your recipe.

I would try to rouse the yeast a bit. You are near the right time for a diacetyl rest, so racking to secondary is a good idea. After you do, you should let the temperature rise to room temp 65 or so. I would bet that the yeast will actively finish fermentation at that point, which will also give you a diacetyl rest. Once you get closer to your FG, you can slowly reduce the temp to lagering temps.

Evan! said:

I'm no expert on lagers, as I've never done a true lager before, but from what I've heard, it can take up to a month for fermentation to finish.

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Yeah . . . lagers take a bit longer, but not months. The lagers I have done have finished primary fermentation and reached my target gravities in about 10 days to two weeks. The lagering phase, when the yeasties clean up all the baddies, takes at least a month at proper lagering temperatures.

You might want to get that temp up to like 55 and give it another week. Using Saflager, it took my batch 15 days to reach my expected FG and that was at a steady 54 degrees for 13, then up to 65 for two.

Did you use liquid or dry yeast? If liquid, did you make a starter?

Sorry I took so long, it was the propensity lager recipre from The Complete Joy of Homebrewing. I used a smackpack that I pitched at the fermentation temp. I'll try bringing the temp up until the fg is reached then take it to Lagering temps. Do I raise the temp in the primary or rack it first then raise the temp?

Is it still fermenting?

I'm asking b/c you pitced only a smack pack at fermentation temp. This is underpitching for lagers. I also recommend raising the temp into the 60s and see if fermentation speeds up. Do this in the primay and then rack to the secondary for lagering.

Kai