Lagering in a keg

[Josh]

I plan on brewing a munich dunkel and it just dawned on me that I've never done a lager and I'm not 100% sure of what I'm going to do. I'm thinking I will pitch at 60, ferment at 55 for 7 days, raise to 60 for 2 days for the diacetyl rest, then drop it down a few degrees every day until I'm in the 30s. That's where the problem comes in. I didn't realize it had to stay that low for as long as it does. I've seen suggestions ranging from 1 month to 6 months. I'm not happy with my fermentation fridge being occupied for all that lagering time. I'm thinking of dropping the temp gradually and when I get to lagering temperatures, keg the beer and put it in my kegerator which will be in the 30s anyway. Then after a month or so I can hook up the gas and carb it up and see how it turned out.

Anybody see any problems with that approach or anything else I mentioned? I've never even really studied lagering so any part of my process might be very incorrect.

[Tommy Morris]

Your approach sounds great. I think you can even hook up the gas while the beer lagers.  Lagering is just about aging and letting all the yeast and other particles drop out.

One potential issue: Lagers apparently need longer to ferment than ales due to the low temp. So instead of 1 week at 55F you may go for 2-3.

On Wed, Jul 31, 2013 at 1:04 PM, Josh <jhart...@gmail.com> wrote:

I plan on brewing a munich dunkel and it just dawned on me that I've never done a lager and I'm not 100% sure of what I'm going to do. I'm thinking I will pitch at 60, ferment at 55 for 7 days, raise to 60 for 2 days for the diacetyl rest, then drop it down a few degrees every day until I'm in the 30s. That's where the problem comes in. I didn't realize it had to stay that low for as long as it does. I've seen suggestions ranging from 1 month to 6 months. I'm not happy with my fermentation fridge being occupied for all that lagering time. I'm thinking of dropping the temp gradually and when I get to lagering temperatures, keg the beer and put it in my kegerator which will be in the 30s anyway. Then after a month or so I can hook up the gas and carb it up and see how it turned out.

Anybody see any problems with that approach or anything else I mentioned? I've never even really studied lagering so any part of my process might be very incorrect.

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[Ronald Unz]

Whatever you do, use liquid yeast and use yeastcalc.com to build your starter. I'd also recommend listening to The Sunday Session episode "Don Russel - Philly Beer Week". The brew casters brewed a Dortmunder Export and they used different fermentation schedules. It's worth a listen. 

Your fermention schedule seems fine, but like Tommy said, you are going to be at primary fermentation for well more than a week. When I did my Dopplebock last year, I waited two+ weeks and wait for my krausen to fall. I plan on doing a Dortmunder Export and I plan on keeping track of my gravities and using that as a guide to determine when I do the d-rest.  

When you get to your final lagering temperature, I'd just toss it in a keg and forget about it. I'd also recommend filling your keg with CO2 before you transfer, just to reduce oxidation.

On Jul 31, 2013, at 1:04 PM, Josh wrote:

I plan on brewing a munich dunkel and it just dawned on me that I've never done a lager and I'm not 100% sure of what I'm going to do. I'm thinking I will pitch at 60, ferment at 55 for 7 days, raise to 60 for 2 days for the diacetyl rest, then drop it down a few degrees every day until I'm in the 30s. That's where the problem comes in. I didn't realize it had to stay that low for as long as it does. I've seen suggestions ranging from 1 month to 6 months. I'm not happy with my fermentation fridge being occupied for all that lagering time. I'm thinking of dropping the temp gradually and when I get to lagering temperatures, keg the beer and put it in my kegerator which will be in the 30s anyway. Then after a month or so I can hook up the gas and carb it up and see how it turned out.

Anybody see any problems with that approach or anything else I mentioned? I've never even really studied lagering so any part of my process might be very incorrect.