I got my hands on an old kegerator at work that wasn’t being used. I thought it was deep enough to hold a carboy but it isn’t. However, there is plenty or floor space for 2 corny kegs. Is it bad to transfer from my primary fermenter after terminal gravity is reached and the transfer to kegs for lagering? I would expect to purge with CO2, but is it bad to go ahead and fully carbonate before the beer has had time to age? I have had some good luck with Kolsch in the past but I have never brewed an actual lager. Thoughts?
Not bad at all. Aging while carbonating is how most people do it.
I generally keg and then carbonate at serving pressure after fermentation is complete (plus a few days, as a general rule). By the time it’s carbonated to my taste, it’s usually ready to drink. The exception is lagers, which generally take a couple of extra weeks or so.
It’s my common practice. I’m also going to add an occasional pulling of the prv if I’m detecting any sulphur
As others said, no problem and somewhat preferred. I like to cold crash in carboy or bucket for a few days first then lager in kegs until lagering period is over. I will say that it may be better to get the yeast to crash out before you carbonate because co2 can cause yeast to be more reluctant to drop out. If fining it is betts to do this on still, cold beer.
I would have to think how to lager without using the kegs as I have been doing it that way for so long.
Agreed with the others. It’s how I’ve done it nearly exclusively.
if lagering in kegs is wrong, then I don’t want to be right.
An old friend who now no longer homebrews always lagered in kegs and did so with them lying horizontally. His lagers were tremendous and he took many BOS ribbons as a result. His thinking was the distance was less to the surface of the beer and so it lagered faster and cleaner. I have no idea if he was right or not, but I could never argue with his results!
I have thought about trying this, but I have too many leaky kegs. Maybe I will try it with a newer keg.
Lager breweries often have horizontal tank for the shorter distance, and more surface area for the yeast to work at cold temps.
This place was a lot of fun to tour. Picture of the lagering tanks.
I have some 120bbk lagering tanks in the works. Hopefully next year!
Doesn’t the sediment get into the beer when stood vertical to serve?
I thk that’s the preferred method for most of us.
Sounds like homebrewer BS.
Particles drop at a certain rate, so many cm/day. But a corny is not that tall so things end up falling out pretty fast compared to a big giant commercial conical. At a homebrew scale it is not much of an issue. I will try it someday just to say I have.
I have tried it. I used to lager by laying kegs horizontally on the compressor hump of my serving fridge, behind the serving kegs. Made no difference whatsoever.
My thoughts as well…
Well, there you go!
So do you lager guys do a Diacetyl rest with your lagers, this seems to be a nice time to then bottle or keg the beer and then bring it down to lager temps in the bottles or kegs.
If using a keg would you need bubbler because it will be the same as a secondary carboy?
(primary at 50 until it is almost fermented then bring to 67 F or so for a diacetyl rest. Then into Bottling bucket to bottle at room temp for 2 weeks / or keg and lower temps to lager temperatures.)
Though I do not have a lot of lager experience, I do a diacetyl rest in the fermenter, then keg, purge the headspace with CO2, cold lager at 34*F, fine, then carb. I do not install an airlock in the keg while lagering because I’ve heard the transition from ferm temps to lager temps will suck the liquid into the keg.