lagering without kegging... oxidation?

[fixitoscar]

My first lager is bubbling away in my ferm chamber right now. I was going to transfer to a secondary bucket (I think i'll use my bottling bucket to minimize transfers) for the lagering process after i D rest it.
I'm now getting a little worried about oxidation. Sitting that long 3-4 weeks in a bucket.
Am I being paranoid? should i just leave it in primary (glass carboy) ?
Or should I do the transfer before the ferment is completely done to generate some co2 to fill the headspace?
I don't have a kegging set up yet. so i'm a priming sugar and bottle guy.

 

[TopherM]

There's enough residual CO2 that follows the beer into the secondary that oxidation isn't an issue...there's still a layer of CO2 between the beer and any O2 in the headspace.

It won't hurt the flavor of your lager to keep it in primary, but it will hurt the clarity of the lager, which is more important to me personally with a lager than with most styles.

So you're really OK either way here.

 

[terrapinj]

im not sure if 4 weeks will be an issue but braukaiser recommends not using plastic for legering because of oxygen permeability. it seems plenty of people leave their beers in buckets for a few months so may not be an issue

http://braukaiser.com/wiki/index.php?title=Fermenting_Lagers#Maturation_of_the_beer

 

[fixitoscar]

Thanks for the info. I'm glad I was just being paranoid. I'm not too worried about about the permeability of plastic. Although next lager will primary in the bucket and lager in the glass carboy. Just to be safe. I'm looking forward to my Novemberfest lager. Thats when it will be ready.