Clearing a brew, "naturally" (As per German Law)

[Chrissparky]

I mean a good all grain lager bye the way

 

[Brewmarc]

The best German brewers lager there beers for monhs sometimes up to a year at around 1c & do not use finings.
The correct way to prime before bottling adhering to German brewing law is to Krausen the beer..., A small amount of fermenting wort is added to the main batch prior to bottling this is done when the yeast has completed its resperation phase & actively fermenting & reached a high krausen typically around 72 hours after pitching, then bottled as normal.

 

[sdt7618]

The OP's should still carb up (although it will take longer) without the need to add extra yeast, unless he lagers for an extended periond of time. I'm not suggesting he makes a flat beer

my brew, the same coopers euro lager has now been bottled for under a week. was lagered at 3 degrees for 6 weeks and bearing in mind I did pop a small glug of the lagered trub back in, my bottles now have a thin layer on the bottom. content to let them site for 3-4 weeks carbing up as the instructions say, best left for 12 weeks anyway.

 

[terrym]

After carbonation all my beer is stored in my unheated north facing garage. For the last three weeks or so the temperature in there hasn't gone much above 5*C for any length of time. Does this class as lagering? However there isn't a drop of lager in there though. :whistle:

 

[Bodleigh Head]

I would love to taste a real home brewed lager, I don't have a fermentation fridge so only stick to ales. Mainly IPA's but I'm partial to the odd porter or stout. I'm blown away how I can make things that are far better than most commercial brews, in my opinion anyway. Is it really worth the extra effort to make lagers. Not a criticism a honest question

Couldn't agree more with you on how good home-brew is compared to the commercial stuff.

As for a HB lager, if you can manage a controlled (ish) fermentation at around 12°C for 3 weeks, then it is definitely worth giving lager a go. Just to know what it's all about. Add another string to your bow and all of that. And Fermentis S23 is pretty forgiving despite all of the blurb out there on the net about how hard it is to brew lager ... go for it.

Going off at a tangent ... I used to think lager was ****e ... that was until I went to Germany and tried the real stuff, it can be truly excellent.

Extra effort ? I am fairly convinced that it's a swings and roundabouts thing ... on a personal level, I reckon it's harder to get a British style ale bang on target than it is to brew up a decent continental style lager ... at least in my brewery on this side of the channel with continental ingredients available.

 

[chthon]

After carbonation all my beer is stored in my unheated north facing garage. For the last three weeks or so the temperature in there hasn't gone much above 5*C for any length of time. Does this class as lagering? However there isn't a drop of lager in there though. :whistle:

Yes, this counts as lagering. German alt beer is made this way. It is top fermenting beer, but after main fermentation it is lagered like bottom-fermenting beer.

 

[Dutto]

............ Is it really worth the extra effort to make lagers. ............

I don't particularly like lager because, as a young man, the cheap stuff available as an alternative to Mild, Bitter or Stout had to have lime cordial (as in Lager & Lime) or lemonade (as in Lager Tops) added in order to make it drinkable; but it was undoubtedly cheap! :whistle:

I brewed the Coopers Lager last year more or less as an experiment in Cold Hopping and because I knew I would be away from home for ten weeks or so and didn't like to leave the fridge empty.

I have to say that the finished product tastes superb (now down to my last two 650ml bottles) and I will undoubtedly put another one in the fridge when we leave for our 10 weeks Spring break.

This time, I will start a bit earlier to extend the Cold Hop period and also lager at about 4 degrees instead of the 10 degrees I used before. (I have a bit more confidence in the fridge and STC 1000!)

So, in answer to your question "Is it really worth the extra effort to make lagers?" my answer is "Yes." but with the qualification "If you have the time and facilities to do it."

TBH I could have been "lagering" a brew in my garage since mid-November because the temperature in the "non-brewing" section hasn't risen above about 6 degrees since then!