Dropping gravity points while lagering

Excuse my ignorance, this is my second lager and I didn't do the first one correctly either.

I brewed a Munich Dunkel that had an OG of 1.047
I pitched a 1L starter of healthy active yeast (probably underpitched)
It fermented steadily for a LONG time, the airlock bubbled slowly for almost a month. I took a reading the other day and it was down to 1.019 and tasted a tad sweet, not too bad, but definitely not as dry as a lager should. It fermented at about 50 degrees and I was about to put it in the fridge and drop it down to 35 for a few weeks, but that's when I got concerned over whether or not it would finish.

Do lagers typically drop that many points while lagering? Should I warm it back up/pitch more yeast etc until I reach my target FG?

Probably not going to drop any points while lagering because the yeast will settle out and stop fermenting.

michael.berta said:

Probably not going to drop any points while lagering because the yeast will settle out and stop fermenting.

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Right. If you're doing a diacetyl rest, now is the time to do it. You can bring the temperature up to 60 degrees or so, and do the diacetyl rest and allow it to finish. You don't want to rack until you reach FG! After the diacetyl rest, if the beer is at FG, you can rack and begin lagering.

I think the under attenuation is due to the fact that I under pitched. What do you recommend if after several days at 60°F I still haven't hit FG? Make a big starter and repitch, wait til I hit a good FG then lager?

i'd be surprised if yooper's suggestion doesn't solve your woes, especially if you give it a nice gentle swirl on the way to your 60 degree room.

in the unlikely event you're still stuck, then yeah, repitch. saf lager dry yeast would be easier than a huge starter