Ferm. Temps and Bottle Conditioning

I have had some problems with my last brew, a vienna lager. bottle carbing after the lagering phase. I managed to remedy this with carb tabs, but the result was less than ideal.

I imagine that my vienna lager just had too little yeast after transfering from primary and 1.5 months of lagering.

Now I am making a Kolsch, and though I have made kolsch before, I havent had the temp control I now have with my fridge, so I'd like to make sure this fermentation and conditioning schedule won't impose any further problems.

I fermented 5 gallons with a 2 qt. starter of 2565 at 60 F for 10 days, and am now slowly lowering the temps to the upper forties for another three weeks of conditioning. (I will transfer to a secondary for the last 3 weeks).

Will I encounter any problems with this kolsch yeast by doing that? I also thought about fining in the secondary with gelatin before bottling to help clear the yeast, but am hesistant to do so, because of possible carbing issues.

Any insight on this? What kolsch schedules have you guys followed?

Thanks for any input.

your lagering schedule is fine, but i wouldnt take that yeast down past 55f. its range low end is 55. you can have adverse sulfer production and possibly lazy yeast if you exceed the low limit.

It'll spit sulfur even if the terminal gravity is reached? Is that due to the yeast conditioning and cleaning up the beer?

well as i know thats what this particular yeast strain produces at lower temperatures. all yeasts produce some sulfer at lower temperatures, but theyre all different. this particular strain is an ale yeast so its sulfer expulsion tends to be higher at lower temps. it just happens to have a large temperature range, moreso than most ale yeasts. have you measured your gravity to see if its finished?? typically you wont reach terminal for several weeks. you say its been going for 10 days. you may not be done yet. and this is typical when fermenting at lower temps (you said 60f). id suggest not dropping it down below 55f for atleast 3 weeks after going into the secondary. once youre kegged, you can lager to serving temp.

I took a gravity sample a bit ago and its fallen to 1.012, so it might have a few more points to drop as i mashed at 148-9 for dryness. It was at 1.020 after 48 hours in, down from 1.048.

The last time I used this strain, it stalled at around 1.020, but it may be because I had it too cold, but it took off again and finished strong.

I guess my main concern is how cold and for how long can I take this strain before I bottle without problems. I know it isnt a good flocc'in yeast, so there will still be a lot in suspension at bottling, unless of course I fine too much out. Perhaps Im just thinking out loud, but I think Im going to slowly lower the temp down to 55 F and hold there until bottling.

Thanks for the input B.M.P.A