Lagering Question

[red ghost]

Hi all,
I have a question about lagering..

I've got a german style lager in the fridge nearing end of fermintation. So from the fermentor to a keg, filtered then in a cube for lagering.

So here's my question, should I fit an airlock to my cube? I'm a bit paranoid about my cube busting from 2ndary fermintation..

cheers

 

[brotom7]

No airlock, seal it as well as you can.

And avoid letting the beer getting in contact with air during your transfers and filtering, air is probably your worst enemy at this stage.

If you have access to CO2 then use that to fill your filter and containers so the beer never gets in contact with air.

 

[red ghost]

Thank-you Sir, I will take your advice..

 

[warra48]

I agree with brotom.
My last brew is a Munich Dunkel. I transferred it to a jerry after 3 weeks in primary. The jerry is as full as I could get it. It's totally sealed and sitting in my fridge as low as I can get it (about 2 to 2.5 degrees) while mrs warra and I are in Europe for a month.

 

[Thirsty Boy]

From fermenter to keg, filter and then cube for lagering??

I personally would transfer carefully to a purged cube and then filter after lagering. Contact with a small amount of yeast during the lagering process is going to do more good than harm.

If you are going to filter before lagering... Why transfer out of the keg? Just filter into the keg and lager it in there (carbonate it while you're at it). The less transfers the better.

 

[red ghost]

From fermenter to keg, filter and then cube for lagering??

I personally would transfer carefully to a purged cube and then filter after lagering. Contact with a small amount of yeast during the lagering process is going to do more good than harm.

If you are going to filter before lagering... Why transfer out of the keg? Just filter into the keg and lager it in there (carbonate it while you're at it). The less transfers the better.

The biggest factor is space..also I have a bar fridge with nothing in it, which only a cube will fit. I have two larger fridges but one holds beer for drinking and the other is my fermenting fridge.

But I will take your suggestions onboard..

cheers

 

[time01]

I am currently brewing my first lager, and fortunaetly dont have problem with space, and have a keg system.

so for the "lager" part I can rack it to keg, purge the keg, and leave it in fridge to lager? how long should i leave it for? and at what temp?

 

[HeavyNova]

Hi time01, I too am going through my first lagering process so I can only have a go at your questions based on what I've read.

Lager in the a purged keg - Don't see why not, this is a good way of doing it I'm lead to believe.
Length to leave it - Not sure but I would think that it could depend on the style of beer. I see 4 and 6 weeks said a fair bit so if you don't get any other replies, maybe use these periods as a guide.
Temperature - I've always thought that it's good to leave if as cold as you can (without freezing it!). However if you don't have the ability to provide fine temperature control on your fridge, normal fridge temps would be fine.l

Now, I have a couple of questions;

This weekend I was planning on racking a brew off the yeast cake and lagering for the first time ever. However, reading this thread has has got me thinking that I might not be able to do this very well with the equipment I currently have.

I've got 12L of beer for lagering and no kegs therefore I can't purge air etc. I was planning to rack the beer off the yeast and into another vessel and go another 3 - 4 weeks at low temps before bottling. However, with the amount of airspace the beer will be in contact with, would it be better (in my case) to lager in the bottles?

You may wonder why I'm lagering when I don't really have the right gear etc, but the beer is a Dusseldorf Alt and I didn't know that this ale it should be treated like a lager until after I brewed it.

 

[kelbygreen]

just leave in the fermenter. I do this and leave for 4-5 weeks get crystal clear beer out of it. then let it carb in bottles you can put it back in the fridge till you want to drink it. You could just bottle them and then carb and lager but you will have more yeast and need to be able to fit all bottles into a fridge.

 

[CosmicBertie]

just leave in the fermenter. I do this and leave for 4-5 weeks get crystal clear beer out of it. then let it carb in bottles you can put it back in the fridge till you want to drink it. You could just bottle them and then carb and lager but you will have more yeast and need to be able to fit all bottles into a fridge.

Do you leave it on the yeast cake for 4-5 weeks? so its 4-5 weeks, including fermenting time or is it ferment + 4-5 weeks lagering, then bottle + carb + drink?