Clear Lager

[Gilbey]

I have my first two lagers happily lagering away. One is an Oktoberfest that I will try not to touch until, well, October . The other is a Czech pils that I transfered to keg about 4 weeks ago after primary fermentation was complete. It's in my keg fridge at about 42F right now.

I drew a sample last night, and the taste was very nice, but it was still pretty cloudy. I have always brewed ales in the past and I know most of them take a bit of time to clear even with Irish moss, etc. Are lagers the same way? Will this beer clear up? Any tricks?

My other question is how in the heck am I supposed to wait 6 weeks for my lager to lager before drinking it???? I can't even wait a few days for my ales in secondary .

Thanks.

Alan

 

[SumnerH]

Lagering for 6 weeks should help it clear considerably, as well as making it taste, um, lagery!

 

[motobrewer]

if you want crystal clear, try gelatin.

info about it here if you search.

 

[greggor]

I would say yhat you can get by lagering for 2 weeks, while 6 weeks may be a little better most comercial breweries only lager for 2 weeks. You can add a half package of Knox unflavored geletine to the keg to help it clear. heat some (about a cup) water just below 150 F add a half pack of geletine stir it well and dump it in the keg. Close the keg and shake it up a little. that will help to drop out the protein (haze) in the beer.

 

[olllllo]

Chill haze?

 

[CoolHandLuke]

Lagering my bohemian pilsner takes 4 weeks at 30F. It does take the WHOLE four weeks. You are lagering 12 degrees higher. Therefore, give it another 4-6 weeks or bring the temp down to 30-32F for a couple of weeks...

 

[menschmaschine]

Since it sounds like you lagered in the keg, your sample probably had yeast settled out from the lagering period. It will clear after a couple glasses.

 

[passedpawn]

I just made a pils. 2 wks primary, 2 day d-rest, 3 wk @ 30F.

Gelatin as soon as it's cold.

I transfer to bottling bucket while it is still very cold. Clear as a bell.