lagering an ale

is there any benefit to lagering an ale?

i've got an ale that i decided to put into a chiller after a one week fermentation in the primary and a second week of very slow fermentation in the secondary. now it's in the secondary in my fermentation chiller at about 38 F. i was planning on keeping it in there for another two or three weeks, just to see if lagering an ale makes any difference.

what are the boards thoughts on this? is it worth the extra time?

I have no idea what thats going to accomplish but I have 2 in secondary right now that I am doing exactly that to.

Lagering is not only chilling your fermenting your beer, but it is using lagering yeast as well. So, I'm not sure if you used lager yeast or not, but what you are doing is not "lagering your ale".

loop

I haven't done this, but from what I've read recently it's likely that the beer will clarify quite a bit while being cold-conditioned. Doesn't sound like anything terribly uncommon.

the_bird said:

I haven't done this, but from what I've read recently it's likely that the beer will clarify quite a bit while being cold-conditioned. Doesn't sound like anything terribly uncommon.

Click to expand...

Thats what I was hoping to do.

G. Cretin said:

Thats what I was hoping to do.

Click to expand...

If you are force carbonating you should be in good shape. If you bottle condition you might have problems with flat beer. Every time I've "cold conditioned" I had carbonation problems. My guess is that it does such a good job of clarifying that there's nothing left to munch on the priming sugar.

loop

loopmd said:

Lagering is not only chilling your fermenting your beer, but it is using lagering yeast as well. So, I'm not sure if you used lager yeast or not, but what you are doing is not "lagering your ale".

loop

Click to expand...

I thought the original definition of "Lager" was cold storage? My understanding form everything I have read was that lagering meant a long term cold conditioning/storage. You are not making a "lager" unless you use a bottome fermenting "lager" yeast.

-Todd

A lot of breweries lager their ales. I don't know if they are adding lager yeast after primary fermentation or if they mean to say cold-condition.

Still, if your fermentation is not complete and you bring the temp way down...then bottle...then store at room temp to carbonate...kaboom...

I cold condition my ales all the time. Actually, not all the time, but often. I do it to help settle things out You need to remember that just because your beer is in the secondary does not mean it is finished. It will continue to work in the secondary, only at a slower pace. If you put it in too cold an enviroment before it is "done" the ale yeast will drop out, stop and your beer will suffer. The last stages of fermentation are really important, particularly related fermentation by-products. If you rush it your beer will end up being funky. However, if you let the beer run its course and then cold condition it you can reep the benefits of a crisper flavor and a clearer beer.

I was going to cold condition my next batch (ale) as I'm going to be out of town come next Friday for 4 days and have the space in the fridge. Pastor, I was only going to do this if I met FG at rack time; probably Thu night which would be 5 days primary. So if you primary for only 4-7 days and get to FG; rack and cold condition would this be short-circuiting the process you think?

Reason I was contemplating doing this was my local brewpub goes through a cold condition after it ferments out I think at 34 and he lets it sit there for I think 7 days before filtering out to the dispensing vessels. I was surprised at how soon he kicked into cold conditioning; Believe it was 5-7 days after main ferment.

i've had it in cold storage for about three days now. i'm going to ride it out at this temperature for about a week, then slowly bring it back to room temperature. once that is acheived, i will prime and bottle.

i was going to condition it for a longer period of time, but now that people are saying i may have problems carbonating if i kill off all the yeast, i will warm it up. i am not force carbonating and i hate flat beer!

i am using ale yeast, by the way.

I cold condition my ales when my lager fridge is not being used for lagers.
I force carbonate with co2 so carbonation isn't a problem. They precipitate a lot of sediment making my brews a lot clearer. Only thing is a lot of ales are meant to be enjoyed young.

So where's the line between cold conditioning and placing your full keg in the fridge? Would the kegs that have been in my fridge for 6 weeks now be considered "lagered"?

HomerT said:

I thought the original definition of "Lager" was cold storage? My understanding form everything I have read was that lagering meant a long term cold conditioning/storage. You are not making a "lager" unless you use a bottome fermenting "lager" yeast.

-Todd

Click to expand...

I stand corrected!!

I should have "googled" earlier.

http://www.brewguys.com/BrewSchool/Brewing__Tips/Lagering/lagering.html


cheers, loop

I think there is something in what you originally said, loopmd. At lagering temps (say 1 or 2 C) a lager yeast will still be working (slowly) to absorb by-products, although I doubt an ale yeast will be at that temperature.

I will normally put a cask of ale in a cooler area of the house around 10 C if possible after a week or two of room temps.

Yeah thats the big difference. If you have true lager yeast...it will continue to ferment slowly. But you can "lager" any beer. It usually gives a more clear beer, that is sometimes more crisp like a lager.

-Todd

well, you guys spooked me into warming up my beer last night. it's probably the right thing to do, but i've also been doing some research on the style of beer i am attempting to emulate -- german altbier. everything i find about altbier says that it should be cold conditioned after fermentation.

now, this may mean that the true style of altbier is not carbonated. i don't want to be THAT true to style.

does anyone have any input on this? have i done the right thing, or will i end up with flat beer?

Since you're bottling, warming up the vessel is the right choice. I don't know this as fact, but I'm sure you haven't "killed" your yeast needed to carbonate, otherwise we'd all have broken yeast as we refrigerate them prior to use from white labs, wyeast.

well, i was using dried ale yeast from nottingham, which has always seemed to be a pretty robust yeast. my guess is that it will probably take a bit longer to carbonate than usual, but that the job will get done eventually.

if all fails, i will use this as an excuse to get myself a cornie keg carbonation kit!