My basement is consistently around 50-55*F, good temp for lager primary. I can borrow a mini-fridge for cold lagering, but eventually I will have to give it back. I dont' want to chance breaking it by bending the freezer coils, so I can't fit a 5 gal carboy to do a secondary at low temps. So, could I do a primary fermentation with a lager strain, go straight to bottles, and cold lager in the bottles?
This would also mean I can only fit about a case at a time in the mini-fridge. Will the second case have ill effects from sitting at fermentation temp while the other case lagers?
Any suggestions on how to make this situation work? I like the clean taste of lagers and would love to try it. Maybe there is an ale yeast that could tolerate this type of treatment better, and produce something close to a lager flavor?
This would also mean I can only fit about a case at a time in the mini-fridge. Will the second case have ill effects from sitting at fermentation temp while the other case lagers?
Any suggestions on how to make this situation work? I like the clean taste of lagers and would love to try it. Maybe there is an ale yeast that could tolerate this type of treatment better, and produce something close to a lager flavor?