Secondary and Lagering in a Corny

[net2mal]

It is my first lager and I am not clear on a couple things, no pun intended.

After my D rest, I brought down the temp to fifty degrees within two days, took a gravity which was 1.015, then dropped 3 to 5 degrees a day, down to 35 F before transferring to the secondary.

1. Should I have transferred to the secondary first and waited for a couple weeks (like an ale) prior to dropping the temperature to lager? I'm pleading ignorance here because I am confused from other posts and advice. From what I have read is seems that lagering takes the place of a secondary conditioning period.

Also, I transferred to a corny keg because my other carboys were being used. I am planning on lagering in the corny for 8 weeks with the last two weeks slow carbing with CO2.

2. Do I need to use a modified airlock on a corny, like what I have seen on other posts, during the lagering period?

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!

 

[BigB]

1. No, that is not necessary. Lagering is essentially a conditioning phase. Lagering in the corny is fine.
2. No. You do not need an airlock. I lager in the corny all of the time without one. There is no fermentation going on, so you don't need to release pressure.

 

[net2mal]

BigB, thanks so much!

 

[jja]

while what BigB said is good advice, there are some subtleties.

If you get some cold break in your primary and never racked off it, then it would be a good idea to rack to secondary sooner. I rack at room temperature, so I find it easier to rack while the beer is still warm (the beer won't warm up enough to hurt, but it will warm some during racking which is a bit inefficient). Also there is also no condensation forming on the equipment, which can get annoying.

More importantly, by racking immediately after chilling and before aging, you will leave behind most of your yeast, negating most of the benefits of lagering-- which is cold conditioning *on the yeast* to help cleanup the flavors. (Of course, you don't want too much yeast and risk autolysis.)

There should be a small bit of fermentation during lagering, as the yeast continue to slowly work on residual sugars. Not enough to worry about in a carboy-- it would just reduce amount of force carbonation needed.

In conclusion, I personally d-rest as soon as primary slows to get rid of my cold break (I don't have good separation from the brew kettle), then rack to secondary while warm, leaving behind the yeast cake and carrying over just the yeast in suspension. Then place back in cool ferment (or reset chamber to ferment temps) for 7-10 days (or until 2-4 points of expected attenuation remain), then begin the lagering chilling regimen you described (a few degrees colder each day).

 

[net2mal]

I'll try this way next time. Hopefully I was slow enough that enough yeast stayed in suspension when I racked over. I guess time will tell. Thanks for your reply.