Secondary/ Cc

[wedge]

What temperature do you keep your secondary at. I'm doing my first ag lager, usually secondary is just racking when fermentation has pretty much finished (1 week) then throwing the fermentor back in the fridge for another two and then finally CC for as long as i can wait at 4oC. Of course this was for ales?

I was thinking about dry hopping this batch, do we do this during secondary, and how long must it be in there?

 

[Jovial_Monk]

I usually lager at .5C, even below 0C though my fridge can't seem to get down that far ATM

the colder you lager the shorter the lagering period need be

JM

 

[Trough Lolly]

I agree with JM regarding the temp/time relationship...

I usually get my Bavarian Lagers down to about 8C and leave them in the fridge for at least 3 weeks. They turn out fine. If I could get my fridge lower, then I would leave them in for 2 weeks, but anything less than a fortnight in the fridge isn't worth it, IMHO...

Don't rush the chilldown from room to lagering temp - apart from the fact that you have a reasonable volume of fluid to cool, you don't want to shock the yeast cells that remain in suspension in the secondary fermenter. If you get down to your goal temp from, say, 18C overnight or within 12 hours, then that works fine for me. Remember, you are conditioning the fermenting yeast in the brew and it is that cooling of the beer that allows the extra depth and crispness of the lager to show itself - over time.

Experiment and see what works for you.

Cheers,
TL