Fermenting in Plastic Storage Bins to Save Space (YouTube)

[Positronic_Matrix]

I have large conical fermenters and have no easy way to lager a Märzen in my garage fridge. I think I just found a solution! This fellow uses plastic storage bins as fermenters. I think I’m going to give it a go.

 

[odie]

I thought we were going to see them in action. Not much to see here

 

[balrog]

Go big or go home.

 

[IslandLizard]

You can "lager" in kegs placed in a fridge or freezer.

 

[odie]

I’m starting to get strange ideas. Square containers are more efficient space wise. My current setup I can only get 2 round ones in. Square I might get 4 in my GDM? I have 4 fermenters going right now.

 

[Positronic_Matrix]

I thought we were going to see them in action. Not much to see here

I plan to give a try in March for lagering. I was hoping to find some folks who’ve already done this.

 

[odie]

The trick is to find a square container with a spigot. Those large camp water jugs come to mind. Cleaning will pose problems

 

[RedlegEd]

You can "lager" in kegs placed in a fridge or freezer.

^^^^+1 this!
Lagering is done after fermentation, so using a keg keeps it from getting oxygenated, light struck, or infected (assuming good sanitation of your keg.) It also has the added benefit of allowing you to put it on gas and lagering under pressure, so when you're ready to finally get into your beer, it's ready to serve (that is if you have the patience to leave it alone that long!)
Ed

 

[IslandLizard]

have no easy way to lager a Märzen in my garage fridge. I think I just found a solution! This fellow uses plastic storage bins as fermenters.

There's a significant difference between fermenting a Lager beer and lagering a (Lager) beer:

• For either, you need a vessel where you can keep infections out, and prevent oxidation.
• For the former, fermenting a Lager beer, pretty much any vessel can do. As long as you can keep steady low temps (50-55F) for a few weeks, prevent air (oxygen) intrusion to prevent oxidation once fermentation slows down, during the diacetyl rest, conditioning, and cold crashing.
• For the latter, lagering a (Lager) beer, keeping air (oxygen) out is paramount to avoid oxidizing your beer during the 3-6 weeks (or longer) in ice cold storage (which is the actual "lagering").

 

[IslandLizard]

have no easy way to lager a Märzen in my garage fridge. I think I just found a solution! This fellow uses plastic storage bins as fermenters.

There's a significant difference between fermenting a Lager beer and lagering a (Lager) beer:

• For either, you need a vessel where you can keep infections out, and prevent oxidation.
• For the former, fermenting a Lager beer, pretty much any vessel can do. As long as you can keep steady low temps (50-55F) for a few weeks, prevent air (oxygen) intrusion to prevent oxidation once fermentation slows down, during the diacetyl rest, conditioning, and cold crashing.
• For the latter, lagering a (Lager) beer, keeping air (oxygen) out is paramount to avoid oxidizing your beer during the 3-6 weeks (or longer) in ice cold storage (which is the actual "lagering").

 

[Positronic_Matrix]

There's a significant difference between fermenting a Lager beer and lagering a (Lager) beer

I have been brewing for years, however I have never attempted a lager, as my conical fermenters are too large to fit in a fridge. I am embarrassed to say, that I assumed that the fermentation vessel had to also be the lagering vessel. I never considered otherwise until now.

With the information provided in this thread, my plan now is to ferment in a conical and lager in keg. No unusual vessels are required. Thank you all!