lager: bottle or secondary

[CowboyKyle]

I have three lagers fermenting in a minifridge at the moment - a helles with 34/70, a dortmunder with 34/70, and a baltic porter with s23. They are extracts. Looking for opinions on the lagering phase.

currently the brews are held at 55F and are 8 days into fermentation. I will do a D-rest somewhere around the 22th, raising temps up a couple degrees per day, until I hit 63F. Then... well,

1. I could cold crash, transfer to bucket, clean out fermenter, put beer back in fermenter and then place back in minifridge for X days at 35F... bottling after a few weeks or months. A little work, but I would like these to be as good as they could be, and if using a secondary in the fermenter does it, so be it.

2. I could cold crash, and bottle, then put bottles in minifridge for X days at 35F.

My concern is the fermentation is putting off a lot of sulfur smell, and that isn't something I want to lock in a bottle hoping it is conditioned out. It seems to me that using the fermenters (LBKs) would allow for off gassing a lot better than a bottle, but honestly I don't know if that is needed. I've read an article on AIH that bottling is advised after D-rest, to avoid warming and stirring up. But more important to me than clarity, is taste, so if conditioning out acetaldehyde or off gassing sulfur is better in an open air container, I'll do it that way.

[BigPapaG]

In my experience, the sulphur phase will pass in another 8-12 days... A D-rest after that will allow the yeast time to clean up any diacetyl if present and any other unwanted flavor compounds.

You could transfer to a secondary prior to d-rest but it's not at all necessary. Not only that, the more you move your beer around at this stage, the greater the chance of oxidation, and you don't want that...

I would say leave it another 12 days, then bring it up a couple of degeees for d-rest...

Then you could certainly bottle, carbonate for a couple of weeks at room temp and THEN lager the beer at cold temps for a few more weeks.

[CowboyKyle]

Then you could certainly bottle, carbonate for a couple of weeks at room temp and THEN lager the beer at cold temps for a few more weeks.

ah, yes, left that part out.

So in the end if a lot movement is avoided, there isn't any real difference in either method?

[mashani]

A long time ago I lagered in a glass carboy/secondary before bottling.

These days when I make a true lager (only a few times a year) I just leave it in the primary until it's done, do my d-rest there, bottle, *let it carb* for 4 weeks (don't forget this step LOL), and then lager in the bottle.

I've had good results both ways.

[CowboyKyle]

I've had good results both ways.

so you didn't panic about the sulfur smell?

[Pudge]

I love brewing lagers.

Wait the sulfur smell out. Don't rush the beers and I wouldn't cold crash them. Let the yeast slowly chug their way to a stop on their own and start dropping out. Fermenting a little cooler should avoid the sulfur.

Anymore, I normally ferment at 48 through 4 full days of visible activity and then set the controller to 55 for the remainder of two full weeks. Then I keg it up. Works fine. I think the key is to keep the activity of the fermentation down. Sometimes I'll ferment at 50 and sometimes as low as 45 depending on the level of activity. Slower generally equals cleaner.

[mashani]

I've had good results both ways.

so you didn't panic about the sulfur smell?

When I smell sulfur, I think "good crisp beer is being made".

Just wait and it will go away. It likely won't stick around very much longer.