Question about dropping the temperature for lagering...

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Bisco_Ben

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Sorry to repost but I didnt get any answers in the other thread. So I am planning on doing the Boston Lager clone (Decoction/Krausening) as my first Lager in a long time and my first Decoction all together. I am planning on kegging the batch and force carbing instead of the Krausening. I was wondering however, once I have fermented the beer out for about 4 weeks at 50 degrees and am ready for the Lagering process, would it be ok for me to just transfer the batch from 50 degrees into my keg and put it directly into my kegerator and allow it to cold-age (Lager) for however long necessary? Or is it absolutely necessary to drop the temperature by a degree or 2 everyday until I reach ~30 degrees (as stated in the recipe)? I am trying to minimize the amount of time this lager takes up in my fermentation chamber allowing for me to continue cranking out Ales instead of waiting 2+ months in order to brew again. Also, would it be advisable to do a diacytel (sp?) rest for a day or 2 before transferring to keg?
 
I just rack mine to a keg and put in the fridge for the lager. Some recommend the incremental drop in temps, but crashing it works just fine for me.
 
Probably doesn't matter either way. I suspect that the slow drop is one of those recs from the world of pro brewing where minimizing process time is critical, so they probably start reducing the temperature while the yeast are still working. But for us, it's easy to just give it a few more days so the yeast are all done, then crash it.

By the way, primary should not take 4 weeks. If you make at least a 2-3 liter starter, it should be done with primary in 7-12 days.
 
I would also do a diacetyl rest before lagering. Maybe about 90% through fermentation increase your ferm temp to low/mid 60s or so and hold it for a day or two. That will clean up any diacetyl that might be leftover from your fermentation.
 
I switched from ales to lagers in May, and just finished drinking my first keg. I have read everything I could find about temp controling etc. Ferment at the low end of the yeast range, which will take seven to ten days. Remove from chamber, let temp rise to 65 to 70 for two days, you will see activity pick up, then stall again. That's to allow the yease to finish up removing Diacytel and Aceldahyde. If you want, pull a sample to taste to make sure no green apple or buttery tastes. Rack to a sanitized keg for lagering. Then you can cool slowly, or go ahead and set in Lager chamber at 32 to 35 degrees. I took samples each week and low and behold after a month the beer was clear and tasted wonderfull.

I have about 6 kegs lagering now, and I like to hit them with about 20 lbs of Co2 each time I open the freezer up. They can absorb it slowly that way and by the time they are done they are pretty much carbed up. Or, wait the month, then carb up like an ale.

All the stuff you read about Lagers will sound daunting, but it's no big deal. I like to leave mine in the primary, and when ferm slows down to about one bubble per eight to nine seconds, remove it for Drest. Two days later, begin reducing temp. About one to three weeks later rack to serving keg, try to leave alone for a month. Best beer I have ever tasted.
 
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