What are your opinions on carbing while lagering? I have an Octoberfest that needs to lager 3 more weeks. I would like to connect the gas to it next week so it’s drinkable as soon as lagering is done. Opinions on whether that affects the end result would be great.
Do it
I like your attitude! 
I carb in keg while lagering every time.
Me too. No issues whatsoever (except faster drinking…).
Yep, works for me!
Nice, thanks guys!
Supposedly yeast drops out suspension fast when co2 is not present.
I just bottled a batch tonight and that basically answered the question for me. In the bottle it has the carb first, then lager. I like kegging so much more. This beer won’t be drinkable for 2 months. I’m not a patient man. Haha
Most lagers are drinkable within 2-4 weeks. Even bocks and doppelbocks don’t need 2 months. In fact, after 2 months you may have missed the peak of freshness. This idea of lagering beer for months is mostly outdated except in the case of sour beers and some high gravity exceptions like barley wines
It seems everytime I rush a brew to the glass I feel like it really comes in right about the time the keg blows.
Probably true, but when dealing with a corny keg size, I have not noticed much of a difference.
I’m not saying “rush”. If you handle a fermentation right there is no benefit to extra extended aging. If you are finining then I can understand the long time it takes to drop yeast out of suspension though. Two months for alight lager though is an awful long time.
I can drink excellent light lager in 4 weeks grain to glass. That’s 2 weeks in the fermenter and 2 conditioning in the keg.
I could get out of the fermenter a bit faster, but, I always wait 2 weeks out of Diacetyl paranoia.
I regularly tap the keg after 1 week conditioning, but, the beer peaks after another week in the keg.
I think proper water treatment, gelatin, and ramping the ferment temp along the way speed the process a lot.
Totally agreed. I do tend to still see a bit of improvement in flavor as the beer enters into its 4-5th wk of lagering though. I tend to get a bit of lager “creaminess” that comes out. Whatever the hell that means!
The 2 months is total time. I figure 2 weeks ferment, 4 weeks lager, 2 weeks carb. That’s why I asked the question. If I can let it lager for two weeks then gas it for the remaining two it would save me two weeks.
I carb while lagering all the time. perfectly fine to do so.
I carb while lagering too.
From touring several German breweries, once they get the beer matured in the tanks, instead of waiting for the yeast to fall out, they filter. Time is money!