I’m doing my first lager, it is still fermenting and I haven’t done a diacetyl rest yet. When it comes to lagering, my plan was to transfer into a corney keg.
My question is, can I carbonate while it is in the lagering phase? Or should I wait until lagering is complete before I hook up the CO2?
Either way works fine. I almost always carb while lagering.
+1 to lagering and carbing at the same time. However, I have found it to my advantage to keep the pressure down a couple of pounds or so while at 32 or 33 degrees. When you transfer to the Kegerator you won’t have foaming problems.
Thanks! I always wondered if there would be any difference in the two methods other than the additional time to carbonate.
I like to crash cool for a couple days to a couple weeks in the primary before transferring and lagering in the keg. After I keg, I’ll hook the gas up if I have a free gas line.
and +2 to being careful not to overcarbonate while lagering.
I have noticed a little excessive foaming, so I carb them up and then pull them off CO2 after a week or so - when I remember!