First Kolsch

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RandalG

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I'm finally ready to take the plunge into lagering. I picked up a chest freezer at Lowes and a digital temp controller. So I've started with a Honey Kolsch to wet my feet and it's been fermenting away at 66 for two weeks using Wyeast 1010. I'm ready to secondary and the instructions for the kit say to secondary cold for two weeks. I called the HBS and they told me a lager temp of 40 would be good to secondary at. Just wondering if that sounds right as after looking around I've seen anywhere from 35-45. I'm also a bit concerned that after two weeks at 40 the yeast won't carb the beer as I bottle condition and the optimum temp for that yeast is 58-74. As I said I'm new to this and trying to wrap my head around the whole process.Thanks for your input.
 
I've never brewed a Kölsch either. From BJCP:
Fermented at cool ale temperatures (59-65ºF) and lagered for at least a month, although many Cologne brewers ferment at 70ºF and lager for no more than two weeks.
 
I'm finally ready to take the plunge into lagering. I picked up a chest freezer at Lowes and a digital temp controller. So I've started with a Honey Kolsch to wet my feet and it's been fermenting away at 66 for two weeks using Wyeast 1010. I'm ready to secondary and the instructions for the kit say to secondary cold for two weeks. I called the HBS and they told me a lager temp of 40 would be good to secondary at. Just wondering if that sounds right as after looking around I've seen anywhere from 35-45. I'm also a bit concerned that after two weeks at 40 the yeast won't carb the beer as I bottle condition and the optimum temp for that yeast is 58-74. As I said I'm new to this and trying to wrap my head around the whole process.Thanks for your input.

I lager in my kegerator, which is set at about 41. If you are just using you freezer for fermenting/lagering, go closer to 33.

The cold won't kill the yeast. When ready to bottle, bring the beer back to room temperature for a day or 2, then follow your normal bottling procedure. You still have plenty of live yeast in there to bottle condition. When worried about having enough healthy yeast to bottle-condition, such as with a high alcohol beer or after filtering, you can always add a 1/3 or 1/2 pack of neutral dry yeast (e.g. US-05) to the bottling bucket. This will ensure viable yeast for bottle conditioning and not add any distracting flavors.

Cheers,
Glenn
 
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