Secondary Cube

[mckenry]

Hi Guys,
I did plenty of searches re what I did. Cortez - great Wiki, but none of the search results seem to answer my question exactly. Seems most are cubing to avoid using a chiller.
First - my method, then the question(s)

Method;
Brewed a double batch of lager @ 12C until gravity hit 1.018
D rest @ 18C until fermentation visibly stopped (3 days) 1.010
Crash cooled @6C for 3 more days.

No kegs available so racked into two old FWK containers I had (these have taps on them coz I sometimes use them to brew smaller experimental batches) and I figure it will be easier to tranfer later.
Put these back in the lagering fridge @ 4C. I wanted the primary off the yeast cake to avoid autolysis.

I plan to filter & keg then lager for another couple of months before carbing up.

My questions after thinking this over are;
How long should I leave fermented wort in cubes before going to keg?
Is there any difference lagering in secondary as opposed to lagering in kegs? - When I lager in kegs I put a tiny bit of CO2 in, to drive off the air, but not enough to carb up - so there's a difference, but does it matter? The cubes are topped right up, so air is minimal, but there in a small dose I expect.

Thanks All,
mckenry

 

[drsmurto]

I kegged a Kolsch and a Bo Pils this week both of which had been lagering in cubes for >6 weeks. No problems so far (altho i havent tested them to see if any plasticisers are leached out my beer )

I would have racked to kegs earlier and lagered in the kegs cos i can fit them in the fridge better than cubes but all my kegs are full B)

 

[~MikE]

I would have racked to kegs earlier and lagered in the kegs cos i can fit them in the fridge better than cubes but all my kegs are full B)

that's no good, wanna trade for an empty one?

 

[buttersd70]

If youre really worried about air in the cubes, you could always give it a quick squirt of co2 to purge the headspace, some people do this, but I think most probably don't bother.

 

[drsmurto]

Minimise splashing when racking into the cube - ie. NO splashing.

I have in the past adding a tsp of dex to the cube to produce CO2 but i find that the alcohol content of the beer is in itself, pretty good at protecting the beer. I dont bother any more. There is probably enough CO2 already dissolved in the beer as it is (remember, CO2 is much more soluble than O2).

 

[Brewtus]

My theory is that the small amount of oxygen that gets in when racking get consumed by the small amount of yeast still in the beer and this yeast settles out in the secondary.

 

[buttersd70]

My theory is that the small amount of oxygen that gets in when racking get consumed by the small amount of yeast still in the beer and this yeast settles out in the secondary.

You're not the only one to have the same theory .
I usually rack in the morning, maintain temperature throughout the day, then put it in the fridge that evening. I figure this is more than ample for the little buggers to eat any small amount of O2 that got in.