Lagering questions (storage & priming)

[James P]

Hi Guys

Well after ordering the fridgemate I am looking at setting down my first lager using the saflager yeast. I have tired to find a good source for lagering information (How to Brew, etc) however I still have a couple of questions..

- Do I lager in the primary fermenter or transfer to another container?
- Once lagering is completed, do you add additional yeast for priming?
If so, how much for the 21 litres?
- Any other ideas would be great.

[Dan]

I lager in another container well after fermentation is completed and don't add additional yeast when priming, they always carbonate fine even after a couple of months, beers are always clear!

[James P]

Excellent, thanks Dan! :)

[Dan]

After primary fermentation has well finished, usually after 10 days (depending on yeast and pitching rates), I bring the temperature up to 15oC for 2 days to help clean up diacetyl, cool for a further day or 2 then rack as cold as I can above freezing for a minimum of 3 weeks, due to a lack of a lagering fridge, most of my lagers are lagering quite warm 10oC+ unless its winter, I still produce a nice product most of the time.
My winning bock was only lagered for 3 weeks at 12oC!

[James P]

What temperature are you cooling at after the diacetyl rest? The same 15oC?

I have the fridge all set up now (just have to clean / sterilise it) and just waiting for the fridgemate to turn up, then all go!

[James P]

One more thing Dan, are you bulk priming or priming on a bottle by bottle basis?

As I am thinking about bottling to 330ml stubbies I thought bulk priming would be the way to go.

[Dan]

After rest, I cool as much as i can, bulk priming for me, much easier!

[James P]

Once again, awesome advise! Thanks

[Edward Siddle]

i have a slightly different procedure, which is to:
- ferment as normal (ie. 9-12C for a lager),
- allow it to rise if it is a yeast strain that needs it (no idea about s23 sorry),
- bottle (bulk priming for me too),
- allow to carbonate at 9-12C for probably two weeks or so (either in a fridge or just in cellar if it is winter), and
- then lager the bottles themselves in a fridge as low as i can (1-4C in my fridge) for a month.

seems to work and it frees up fermenters if that is an issue for you. if i was using kegs i would use a different procedure i imagine, and lager in bulk.

some lager yeasts seem to need longer than this to tidy up (eg. wyeast 2206 takes two months to taste any good imo), though the one time i did use s23 it seemed to be tasting pretty good after a month. but on that occasion i did the whole thing at midwinter wgtn cellar temps (12C) with no cold lagering, and it was actually a dry stout which would mask any sins.

[James P]

Hey Edward

Are you using any filtration when bottling? I would imagine there is a large amount of sediment if you don't rack?

[Edward Siddle]

No, I don't, and it is true that I am probably tolerant of a higher level of sediment in my bottles than some. Though this year I might have a go at using gelatine finings for lagers, like i do sometimes for ales if it is a not-so-flocculent yeast strain eg, k97 (1/2tsp in 20L). I am just generally in no great hurry with primary and am prepared to accept that my lagers will have the same amount of sediment in the bottle as bottle conditioned ales will. i just try and generally use quick flocculating yeasts but mostly i just don't worry about it. i stop pouring when the sediment comes.

if you want really low sediment, then i'd probably recommend a secondary phase.

[MrC]

What type of vessel do you guys use for lagering?

I have two of the standard brewcraft fermenters (23L plus headspace), would one of them be suitable for lagering or is the headspace an issue?

[Edward Siddle]

i wouldn't have thought they were ideal, which is one reason i don't do extended cold lagering - because they're pretty much all i've got. you could try a 20L plastic jerry can instead, filled to the top. as i think i've said in the past, if i lager for a long time i usually do it following conditioning, in the bottle. works for me. others no doubt do it in their corny kegs.

nice pics that you've loaded on the site by the way... you certainly look a happy chappy when you're hard at 'work' brewing.