Kegged lager too soon?

[SconeyR]

Hi, all. I'm brewing my first lager, a Munich Dunkel, and I think I may have kegged too soon. I started with a 4L yeast starter and had it in a primary carboy at around 48F for 2.5 weeks. OG was 1.054 (right on target). Krausen started to fall so I jacked the temperature up to ~65 for a couple days for a diacetyl rest. I then transferred it to a keg I was going to use as a secondary/lager and took a reading. My FG was 1.029, way too high (needed to get to about 1.015).

At this point I'm thinking I'll leave it in the keg at 65F for a week or two before dropping the temperature down to lagering temp. Is this a futile effort considering the yeast cake is now gone? Could keeping it warmer in the keg for another couple weeks and lagering for a couple months help it get to FG? Or should I just start over?

If fermentation continues, should I release pressure from the keg's pressure relief valve periodically? I don't mind doing it and it would be easier than rigging up some sort of blow-off tube.

 

[Gavin C]

You used a hydrometer or refractometer?

 

[flatlanderHQ]

There is plenty of suspended yeast in there...just let it go for another week and recheck gravity. And of course you will have to release pressure...or loosen off one of the posts a bit. The CO2 acts as a natural barrier to contaminants anyway. It will likely turn out just fine, given time.

 

[schematix]

Same exact thing happened to me once. I ended up mixing it with vodka to bump the abv up. Still wasn't all that tasty though so on my next batch I dumped the old keg back on the new yeast cake and let it go again. Went down to 1.016 and it was drinkable again.

 

[jahdub]

I'd be surprised if you didn't use a refractometer to get that high FG reading. If you did, then retest with a hydrometer. If you didn't, then leaving it in the keg for a few weeks at a higher temperature sounds like a good idea. Bleeding the pressure is also a good idea.

 

[schematix]

Your beer won't drop but another few points at the most once off the cake. You need to re pitch if you want it to to lower. Hydrometer vs refract is important though.

 

[zacster]

I would pitch more yeast myself, then leave it in the keg. Maybe make a 2L starter and decant the liquid off the yeast and pour the yeast in. Keep the temp around 55. 48 is at the low end of lager fermentation, so it was probably very slow. I start very cold, at around 44, and raise the temp about 1 degree per day until the low to mid fifties. This is the Pilsner Urquell method, and who am I to argue. You shouldn't get diacetyl at the low temps, but a d-rest never hurts.