Temperature when bottling "lite" lager

Against my better judgement, I decided to try my luck with a "lite" beer. 2-row barley, fairly high percentage of flaked corn, hopped with Williamette...nothing too unusual. I used dry yeast (Saflager W34/70) for this one, and put it in primary for somewhere between 2 and 3 weeks at 45ºF or so. A little on the cold side, I know, but I have to do it in my beer fridge since I don't have a fermentation chamber. After that, I racked it to secondary, where it has been sitting for 2 weeks and counting. Now, I know that I probably need to do a diacetyl rest before bottling. But I have the following question: is it ok to bottle it and let it sit at room temperature (~70ºF ambient) for a couple of weeks, then put the bottles in the fridge to lager? I figure this would be kind of like a diacetyl rest. Also, I have no idea where I am going to lager all of these bottles, as my fridge won't hold all of them at one time. Ideas/thoughts/suggestions?

 

Your diacetyl rest only has to be a few days, not a few weeks. I recommend doing the rest in bulk, then bottling after. You can definitely lager in the bottles.

 

Would it hurt anything to let the bottles carb at room temperature for a week or two, then lager them in the fridge? That would be easier for me, otherwise I have to do some creative organizing in my fridge. I don't want to end up with California Common/Steam beer though, so if that's going to happen, I will just keep the brew refrigerated the whole time (except for the diacetyl rest).

 

I've never lagered in bottles, I only lager in bulk. I know it can be done, but I'm sure someone can be more specific on how to do it.

 

Well after you lager, have you ever bottled and then let the bottles get to room temp?

 

Of course. At that point, lagering is complete. It would be just like Bud on the shelf waiting for you to buy it. Best of luck!

 

Thanks for the response. I was worried that I would have to keep my brew refrigerated at all times.