Do I need secondary fermentation for a California Common lager?

[Nkliph]

I've just started fermentation of a Cali Common in a swamp cooler. I'm fermenting at about 60°. Some recipes call for racking to secondary then layering at 50° for a few weeks.

The question is, do I need to rack to secondary, or can I lager at 50° in the primary without losing potential quality?

 

[Yooper]

I've just started fermentation of a Cali Common in a swamp cooler. I'm fermenting at about 60°. Some recipes call for racking to secondary then layering at 50° for a few weeks.

The question is, do I need to rack to secondary, or can I lager at 50° in the primary without losing potential quality?

You don't "need" to, but I really like getting the beer off of the yeast cake before lagering. I typically will lager at 34 degrees (just above freezing), though. I will lager in a carboy or a keg, depending on how much room I have in the fridge at that temperature.

You can lager in the bottle, after it carbs up, if you want to. There are definitely different ways to go about this.