First Lager - Schedule options......

[Tribe Fan]

I brewed a 6 gal Ocktoberfest on 10-16-16. I pitched at 68F / 1.046 and put the bucket in a wine fridge at 48F until 10-29, when I pulled it out to 68F until today. Today it sits at 1.012. I have some options:

1. Put the bucket back in the fridge at 48F (it's lowest setting) and lager away for a while (a couple of months at least)
2. Transfer to a glass carboy and lager away in the fridge.
3. Bottle, condition at 68F for a couple of weeks and then lager in the fridge at 39F.

What I want to do is no 1 because all that involves is opening the wine fridge door

What is the right thing to do? 48F is the lowest I can go in bulk.

 

[Yooper]

Either 2 or 3 will work well.

A bucket is a bad idea for two reasons- one, the wide headspace, and two, the lowering of the temperature will cause suck back, inviting even more oxygen in. It's still headspace related, but the dropping of the temperature will magnify it.

I like to lager at 34 degrees, but 39 will work so I'd lean towards #3. Plus, it's no more work, since you have to bottle it anyway at some point.