Kegging my first Lager

[WSB-MBC]

Newb question here....

I'm doing my first Lager and I'm curious as to when to rack to a keg, when to crash it and how long....

The beer has been been through 3 weeks @ 54 degrees, risen to 62 for D-rest of 3 days and now I've brought it down through 5-degree increments to around 35. It's still in primary (bucket) but I do have 5-gal cornys.
Q - Do I rack to the keg now and then let it sit for 3 weeks @ 35'ish or wait until the 3 weeks are up and then rack to the keg?

Q - conditioning. If I want to cold-condition using a little bit of primer, at what point according to the previous question should that be done?

I'm just a little confused exactly on when it should be racked to which vessel, for how long and at what temp.

Thanks for any clarification

 

[m00ps]

I'm not sure I understand the "until the 3 weeks are up" part. Is it supposed to be lagered for another 3 weeks?

I'd just rack it now into the corny, it can condition there more while your carb it. Use this table to hit you target vol CO2 based on what temp you have it carbing at
www.kegerators.com/carbonation-table.php

 

[hunter_le five]

Q - Do I rack to the keg now and then let it sit for 3 weeks @ 35'ish or wait until the 3 weeks are up and then rack to the keg?

Go ahead and keg it. Lager it in the keg. If you can, go ahead and put it on gas too. When it's finished lagering, you will have bright, clear, carbonated beer ready to drink.

Q - conditioning. If I want to cold-condition using a little bit of primer, at what point according to the previous question should that be done?

I'm not sure what you are saying. Are you talking about priming sugar?

 

[WSB-MBC]

Yes. I was going to add about 70g of sugar (5gal batch)

 

[WSB-MBC]

I appreciate the responses so far

 

[Rockn_M]

Why are you adding the sugar? Did you purchase a kit that came with it?

I personally would just hook the keg up to co2 and let it carb that way vs carbing with sugar.

 

[WSB-MBC]

I'll give that a shot. I've been bottling for years so I'm used to conditioning that way

 

[hunter_le five]

If you are going to use sugar to prime, you will have to do that at room temp (~70°F) before lagering. This will add another 3 weeks to your timeline.

If you are able, forgo the priming sugar and use a CO2 tank to force carb while you are lagering. This will cut down on time and result in less sediment in the keg.