Racking / lagering confusion???

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Intheshed

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Hi there

I'm new to all grain and pressure barrels and I've had a bit of a search but am still confused...

I've made a couple of all grain lagers, fermented out to the correct gravity at 12 degrees in my fermenting fridge and have transferred to Wilko pressure barrels to condition at 4 degrees primed with a DME solution to carbonate.

Should I have held them at room temp to carbonate for a couple of weeks before the 4 degree condition or will they carbonate over the next 6 weeks or so in the cold fridge (it's one of these big shop coca cola fridges I blagged off of a mate in exchange for good beer!!!)

They've been in there a few weeks but have no fizz at the moment...another batch that I have bottled and held at room temp for 2 weeks has a nice little bubble to it.

My recipe doesn't say anything about room temp storage before the 4 degree condition hence why I've chucked them straight into the big chill...

Thoughts and advise much appreciated - taste great already without a bubble...

Cheers people...
 
Sounds like you're confusing lagering and conditioning.

The lager I'm drinking now was fermented at 12C, then raised to 18C for 3 days for a Diacetyl rest.

Then it was lagered - an extended period of cold storage that gives lager its name. It was transferred into a secondary and lagered at between 1.5C and 2.0C (as cold as my fermenting fridge goes) for 10 weeks.

Once the lagering period was done it was fined. 19 litres went into a corny for force carbing, the rest was batch primed and bottled. At this stage these bottles are treated just like any other beer, a few weeks in the warm to carb and then cool conditioning.

Your pressure barrels are not really well suited to lagers, they won't hold enough pressure to give a lager level of carbonation. You'd be better off bottling.
 
Hi Dave

That's magic mate, thanks. Either I'm missing it or my book doesn't really make it clear about the lagering period pre priming / racking / final storage. It seems to muddle them all together or maybe I'm just being thick!

I'll leave the two pressure barrels in the fridge as they are for another month (treat them as my 2nd fv's.) and then I'll pull them out, check the gravity and reprime if necessary and bottle. Store at room temp for 2 weeks and away we go with fizzy beer!

Thanks again Dave, happy brewing...

Intheshed
 
Using the PB's as a lagering vessel is fine, but at the end of lagering you really want to be transferring off the sediment tat formed during lagering.
One of the things that happens during lagering is that chill haze forms and then settles out giving you a beer that stays clear when chilled, you want to be getting it off this sediment
 

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