BeerBorg

I'm still trying to get a gauge on my keg logistics, in an attempt to always have both taps drawing while a third waits in the wings. Right this second, I do, but I have a feeling that won't last long. My biggest obstacle at the moment is the fact that the third keg is currently conditioning a lager, which I don't want to draw until early April.

This brings me to my current logistical dilemma.

In about two weeks, I'll be kegging the current fiver, and then I plan to brew an Oktoberfest, which I want to lager until October, obviously. I imagine there will be a keg available when it's ready to lager, but I don't think I want to tie up a keg that long. And I kind of don't want to buy another keg, even if (or especially if) it's only going to be a dedicated lager keg. Three kegs, two taps is a workable rotation, even if I do the occasional lager every four or six months.

But I will still need to cold lager this thing, so here's what I'm thinking. If I rack to a secondary and keep it in the lager fridge at around 32 degrees, that should work. Unless it's a bad idea to have it sitting on whatever residual yeast is carried through the siphon. Although, now that I think of it, that would be true if it was in a keg, anyway, wouldn't it? So yeah, I guess that's what I'll do. It'll stay at a good temperature, and it won't get lightstruck, and it won't be in the way, and I won't have any further expense with the matter, and I can keg it and carb it a couple of weeks before I want to drink it and keep the keg rotation going.

Glad we could help you out with that. That's the perfect plan and how most people do it.

FedoraDave wrote: Unless it's a bad idea to have it sitting on whatever residual yeast is carried through the siphon.

This makes me question what I thought I knew about secondaries. I thought one of the reasons for a secondary was extended fermentation off the cake.(esp. high gravity brews)

jimjohson wrote:

FedoraDave wrote: Unless it's a bad idea to have it sitting on whatever residual yeast is carried through the siphon.

This makes me question what I thought I knew about secondaries. I thought one of the reasons for a secondary was extended fermentation off the cake.(esp. high gravity brews)

Well, unless you do a CO2 purge you will still want some fermentation going in the secondary, but you will have far less yeasties. I secondary for extended times and treat it as a big arse bottle for the most part and haven't had any issues. For something I was going to age anyway it gives me the flexibility to bottle at my convenience. However if I was going to secondary for long periods of time like I would a barleywine I would probably let it ferment it out and rack over to a carboy that would be CO2 purged to be on the safe side.

For true long term storage I'd make sure fermentation was really done, and besides CO2 purge, put a solid stopper in the secondary, not an airlock. Or airlock it at first, then after a while, purge it and plug it.

mashani wrote:For true long term storage I'd make sure fermentation was really done, and besides CO2 purge, put a solid stopper in the secondary, not an airlock. Or airlock it at first, then after a while, purge it and plug it.

I'm sure I could get a solid stopper at my LHBS, but how would I do a CO2 purge in a Better Bottle carboy?

jimjohson wrote:

FedoraDave wrote: Unless it's a bad idea to have it sitting on whatever residual yeast is carried through the siphon.

This makes me question what I thought I knew about secondaries. I thought one of the reasons for a secondary was extended fermentation off the cake.(esp. high gravity brews)

Well, the thing is, if I make sure fermentation is complete and then drop the temperature way, way down, even lager yeast is going to take a nap. I'm talking about dropping it to just above freezing temp. That will allow the proper mellowing period for a lager without any yeast activity. And there wouldn't be as much of a yeast cake anyway after siphoning from the primary.

It's not a high-grav recipe anyway. Projected ABV is only 5.7%.

Okay, I discussed this with the owner of my LHBS, and told me that extended lagering of this type doesn't need any additional stuff. I can just rack it to a secondary, put an airlock on it and it'll be fine. He pointed out that the yeast are still fermenting just a bit, and cleaning things up, so I definitely wouldn't want a solid stopper.

He said the most important thing is to reduce the temperature gradually, as rapid temp changes can stress the yeast, so he recommended dropping it five degrees every couple of days until I had it down in the mid-30s, where I want it.