Kolsch Lagering, to rack or not to rack?

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Marathon06

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I'm Lagering a kolsck for a couple weeks. Fermentation completed quickly in about 3-days. After 7-10 days I plan to lager a couple weeks. Since it will only be in the bucket 3-4 weeks do I need to rack it over before lagering? I typically don't rack my ales and have only racked my lagers since they are in secondary for several weeks/months. Thoughts?
 
I'm confused by a lagered kölsch. It's an ale so wouldn't you be cold crashing it which would stop the yeast from cleaning up?
 
kolsch is the go to "lager type" ale. Many people swear by good results from a regular fermentation followed by a low temp lagering period. so yes, maybe the improved taste is from the yeast falling out, but remember, yeast is always in solution, so there is always at least a small amount floating around working.
 
I rack lagers and hybrids before lagering (cold storing). I think the whole point of doing that is to get a super clean crisp finish, which comes from lagering. The beer should be without yeast character, so I rack first. Those are the only beers I tend to rack after primary for, though.
 
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