Choosing my lagering vessel..

[Sublime8365]

So I have a lager going in my fermentation chamber at the moment and it's ready to be racked for lagering. Herein lies the problem: I had planned to lager in the keg but wasn't smart and now discovered that the keg is too tall for my fermentation chamber. So I'm trying to figure out the best course of action. It's a big doppelbock and will be lagered for 2-3 months so I'm just worried about oxidation.

Here's what I think are my 2 options:

1. Rack to a bucket and do my best to ensure there's a CO2 layer injected to protect the beer. I could put the lid on, inject some CO2 into the bucket, rack through the hole in the lid, then inject more CO2 after racking. My concern is O2 permeating the bucket lid over the course of 2-3 months. Would using keg lube around the bucket o-ring help create a better barrier?

2. Rack into the keg, clean the carboy, and rack back into the carboy. I figure the carboy will be less susceptible to oxygen permeation, however racking twice effectively doubles my chance of oxidation during the racking process.

Thoughts?

Also, when injecting CO2 how long would I have to wait for the gas to "settle". I know CO2 is heavier than O2 but does it take a few minutes for the CO2 to make it's way to the bottom? Is this even effective?

 

[stpug]

Co2 and air layer on top of each other about as well as water and milk do (i.e. they don't). It's not layering co2 to push out air, it's flushing with enough co2 you are certain only minute amounts of air is left.

As to your dilemma, you'd be fine in a bucket for 2-3 months just don't go much longer. You could also do the carboy method as long as you keep slashing to a minimum.