I am attempting my first lager. I fermented in an unfinished room in my basement with a temp around 55 degrees. I moved it to secondary on Sunday but temps were a little higher the last few days. I cleaned out a spot in my fridge so I could get the temp down around 40 degrees. When should I move this to a keg? Should I leave it in the secondary for 6 weeks or go ahead and move it after a week in secondary? There seems to be a good bit of sediment in the bottom of the secondary...do I filter it out when moving to the keg? When I ordered this recipe I didn't realize what is involved with lagers. Hopefully it's nothing time cant heal.
Lager question
- Thread starter valarious
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Time heals, indeed. Time is essential to heal lagers. It's practically in the name.
I would venture to propose that you need to worry about nothing yet. A fermentation temp of 55 is better than most people reach without devoted temp control units. But why move it to a secondary before you're ready to lager? I think you may be confusing ale and lager procedures here. You don't 'secondary ferment' lagers; you just lager them. Once fermentation is finished or nearly so and most of the yeast has dropped out, then you transfer to another vessel and drop the temps. You shouldn't be lagering it on the yeast. Ales do fine if you leave them on the yeast, even for a long time. Lagers are a bit more sensitive.
But enough theory. If I'm understanding your setup right, here's what I think you should do:
1: Check the beer for diacetyl. Take out a sample; if it tastes like buttered popcorn, you have diacetyl. Bring the beer to room temp for 1-3 days until it disappears. If it doesn't have this taste, proceed to step 2.
2: if you've reached terminal gravity, transfer it to the keg, leaving behind the yeast.
3: Put the keg in the fridge, and keep it there (you say around 40*; that's fine) for as long as you can bear.
4: Carbonate, drink, enjoy.
Basically, you want to get the clear, fermented beer into a cold place for a while. At least a month. Depending on the type of beer, maybe longer; dopplebocks are lagered for 9 months. Then you can get it ready to serve.
Yes, it's a lot easier to stick to ales. But lagers can be a lot of fun; you're pitting your wits against the weather.
If you want more info about making lagers, and haven't done so already, I highly recommend you read the 'fermenting lagers' article in the wiki. It's really great.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/wiki/index.php/Fermenting_Lagers
I would venture to propose that you need to worry about nothing yet. A fermentation temp of 55 is better than most people reach without devoted temp control units. But why move it to a secondary before you're ready to lager? I think you may be confusing ale and lager procedures here. You don't 'secondary ferment' lagers; you just lager them. Once fermentation is finished or nearly so and most of the yeast has dropped out, then you transfer to another vessel and drop the temps. You shouldn't be lagering it on the yeast. Ales do fine if you leave them on the yeast, even for a long time. Lagers are a bit more sensitive.
But enough theory. If I'm understanding your setup right, here's what I think you should do:
1: Check the beer for diacetyl. Take out a sample; if it tastes like buttered popcorn, you have diacetyl. Bring the beer to room temp for 1-3 days until it disappears. If it doesn't have this taste, proceed to step 2.
2: if you've reached terminal gravity, transfer it to the keg, leaving behind the yeast.
3: Put the keg in the fridge, and keep it there (you say around 40*; that's fine) for as long as you can bear.
4: Carbonate, drink, enjoy.
Basically, you want to get the clear, fermented beer into a cold place for a while. At least a month. Depending on the type of beer, maybe longer; dopplebocks are lagered for 9 months. Then you can get it ready to serve.
Yes, it's a lot easier to stick to ales. But lagers can be a lot of fun; you're pitting your wits against the weather.
If you want more info about making lagers, and haven't done so already, I highly recommend you read the 'fermenting lagers' article in the wiki. It's really great.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/wiki/index.php/Fermenting_Lagers
Basically what skyforger said.
2 weeks at 55 (or what temp your style if yeast recommends). 1 week at room temp for d-rest. Then anywhere from 5 to 10 weeks at a low temp depending on what temp you use.
2 weeks at 55 (or what temp your style if yeast recommends). 1 week at room temp for d-rest. Then anywhere from 5 to 10 weeks at a low temp depending on what temp you use.
Took a taste and didn't taste anything buttery. With a lager do you prime for carbonation in the keg or will that not work with the cold temps? Regular co2 method once it's closer to being ready to drink or should I put it on co2 while lagering?
Thanks for the response. Still a noob here. This is my 2nd batch ever.
Thanks for the response. Still a noob here. This is my 2nd batch ever.
Well, you seem to be doing pretty well for your first lager and second batch.
Priming in the keg won't let it carbonate very effectively unless you bring it to room temps for a couple weeks for that purpose. That's what bottlers such as myself do; lager, bring to room temp, prime and bottle, leave a few weeks, refrigerate. In your case I would just force carbonate if you have the capability; that's considered 'best practice' for lagers anyways. And you would do that after the lagering is finished. The lagering is basically a very slow, cold secondary fermentation.
Priming in the keg won't let it carbonate very effectively unless you bring it to room temps for a couple weeks for that purpose. That's what bottlers such as myself do; lager, bring to room temp, prime and bottle, leave a few weeks, refrigerate. In your case I would just force carbonate if you have the capability; that's considered 'best practice' for lagers anyways. And you would do that after the lagering is finished. The lagering is basically a very slow, cold secondary fermentation.
