Secondary Lagering Bright Tank Serving Keg Question

[Gytaryst]

Until now my home brewing has been primarily bottle conditioned ale. I brewed a couple lagers, mostly just to say I brewed them. But for the most part, everything I brew, everything I read, and 99% of what I drink is ale. So when I do get the urge to brew a lager I have to go back to square one and start reading everything again - my memory sucks. So when I do get the urge to brew a lager I have to go back to square one and start reading everything again - my memory sucks.

I'm getting ready to brew a festbier this weekend. While trying to work out the fermentation I considered maybe buying a corny keg as a secondary. I've debated getting into kegging a few times but always manage to talk myself out of it, for a lot of reasons. Sometimes I think it would be nice to be able to keg (some) beers. My favorite beers (to brew and to drink) are still bottle conditioned ales. I only brew a handful of times a year to begin with and the majority of those brews will always be bottle conditioned ale - so it's been hard for me to justify the expense of getting into kegging just for those rare occasions when I would like to utilize that.

I have a 7 gallon Fermonster I use for primary fermentation. I rarely do a secondary, but when I did I had a 5 gallon glass carboy. Awhile back I read a thread on here about glass carboy horror stories complete with photos of stitches, blood, shards of glass and beer flooded rooms. I immediately got rid of my glass carboy.

Now I need something to do a lager in and was considering a corny keg. I was hoping some of you who brew lagers and also keg could shed some light on your process. Do I need two kegs? Do I need the airlock adapter thing? Can I do the secondary in the same keg I serve from? What exactly are the different functions of secondary fermentation vs bright tank? And can they be done in the same keg you eventually serve from? Part of my reason for wanting to get into kegging is for the forced carbonation aspect.

Thanks in advance

CHEERS!

 

[wyowolf]

I just ferment in my blichman conical and then dump in the keg. and purge air with co2 and pressurize and stick in fridge at 33 degrees. I have several so i keep rotating them out. After going in the keezer , usually after a few weeks in fridge they are ready. get about a cup or so of yeast and the rest is quite clear... some use gelatin, I tried that but it plugged up my ports on the keg so now i just use time...

 

[Yooper]

A keg is a perfect secondary vessel- impermeable to light and oxygen.

If you rack to the keg once the beer is finished, no need for an airlock. What I do is make the lager, ferment it in the primary, raise the temp to the diacetyl rest, then rack to the keg and store at 34 degrees.

If you want, you can serve out of that keg, or push via c02 to a new keg. If you never move the first keg, you can easily serve out of it because the trub will be at the bottom, and pouring off about 5 ounces is all that's needed.

You can also bottle off of the keg, using a beer gun or a homemade beer gun.

 

[Gytaryst]

... What I do is make the lager, ferment it in the primary, raise the temp to the diacetyl rest, then rack to the keg and store at 34 degrees.

OK. Just to get my head around everything. Primary until fermented, diacetyl rest, then rack to keg. At that point the beer is done (correct?). At 34 degrees the yeast isn't doing anything else. I know "lager" means "to store." So after the diacetyl rest the beer is simply being stored at 34 degrees, (kind of an extended cold crash). Am I thinking right?

... If you want, you can serve out of that keg, or push via c02 to a new keg. If you never move the first keg, you can easily serve out of it because the trub will be at the bottom, and pouring off about 5 ounces is all that's needed.

So is that all the lagering stage at 34 degrees is doing; knocking the solid stuff out of suspension and clearing the beer? I know I've read where lagering can be a few weeks to a few months. If all it's doing is crashing yeast, proteins and other matter out of suspension, what affect does more time have? Just curious.

... You can also bottle off of the keg, using a beer gun or a homemade beer gun.

Yes, I looked at the Last Straw from Northern Brewer and the Blichmann Beergun V2. I'm not a fan of Northern Brewer but from what I've read I was leaning toward their bottle filler. But that's getting WAY ahead of myself at this point.

 

[auburntsts]

Yes, I looked at the Last Straw from Northern Brewer and the Blichmann Beergun V2. I'm not a fan of Northern Brewer but from what I've read I was leaning toward their bottle filler. But that's getting WAY ahead of myself at this point.

You can bottle off of a picnic tap or a traditional kezzer/kegerator bar tap without a beer gun. You just use a short length of hose and a method to attach the hose to the tap -- this can be store bought like a growler filler attachment or DIY. In any event, you can go from keg to bottle for just a few bucks.

 

[Yooper]

OK. Just to get my head around everything. Primary until fermented, diacetyl rest, then rack to keg. At that point the beer is done (correct?). At 34 degrees the yeast isn't doing anything else. I know "lager" means "to store." So after the diacetyl rest the beer is simply being stored at 34 degrees, (kind of an extended cold crash). Am I thinking right?

So is that all the lagering stage at 34 degrees is doing; knocking the solid stuff out of suspension and clearing the beer? I know I've read where lagering can be a few weeks to a few months. If all it's doing is crashing yeast, proteins and other matter out of suspension, what affect does more time have? Just curious.

Yes, I looked at the Last Straw from Northern Brewer and the Blichmann Beergun V2. I'm not a fan of Northern Brewer but from what I've read I was leaning toward their bottle filler. But that's getting WAY ahead of myself at this point.

Lots of things are going on during lagering- like excess polyphenols dropping out of the beer. Lagers are crisp and bright- mostly due to the lagering process. If you want to read more on lagers, braukaiser.com has a complete and thorough description of all of the processes, and what they do.

And here is a $2 homemade beer gun that works great: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/we-no-need-no-stinking-beer-gun.24678/

 

[auburntsts]

And here is a $2 homemade beer gun that works great: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/we-no-need-no-stinking-beer-gun.24678/

You can do it even cheaper by ditching the #2 stopper and turning the CO2 down to 2 PSI, unless you insist on using counter-pressure.