I am wanting to do an Octoberfest and was curious if anyone lagers in corny kegs? I have a fridg that is temperature controlled for the primary and diacetyl rest and was thinking I could rack off to a corny keg and let it sit at the lagering temp for 6 weeks.
I haven’t but I would. You could probably use the same keg for lagering and then put it on tap.
I can’t remember the last time I lagered in anything else. Works great.
Quite, it works rather well.
All my lagering is done in kegs. The first couple pints will be cloudy, but clear as a bell after that.
that’s what i’ve been doing for years as well. if I’m bringing the beer to a party (such as an Oktoberfest) then I might jump it to a fresh/clean keg to minimize some of the cloudiness but not always (i.e. I’m lazy).
Same here - always. Primary for a month, then rack to corny kegs. You can charge with CO2 in the lagering process, too. Be careful to transfer only beer (leaving trub), don’t shake the keg when putting it on tap, and you won’t even have a glass full that is cloudy - in my experience. Then if you want to transport it, rig up a short piece of tubing with QDC’s on both ends and transfer from out post to out post to fill the keg with cleared beer.
Blatz beat me to the keys! So…what he said^
So theres no need to allow gassing off during lagering? I’m still a little foggy on just what exactly is happening during lagering. If the yeast are still somewhat active, whether it is better for the beer to be able to “breathe”, etc. If its just a matter of letting the beer drop clear in cold storage, then I think kegs or bottles could be lagered and you could carbonate first.
I’m lagering some bottled/conditioned beer right now. Four weeks in the fridge at 35F before I take it to a Cinco de Mayo party.
My Ofest primaries for two weeks, D-rests for one, crashes for another one or two then is transferred to cornies where it will lagers to sublime deliciosity for ~5 months.
Same here!
50 gallons lagering in corny kegs as I type this.
[quote]I haven’t but I would. You could probably use the same keg for lagering and then put it on tap.
[/quote]
This is my preferred method with an Oktoberfest that has won multiple awards over the last three brewings. I have one sitting carbed in the can now (waiting for late summer).
That should last for the hot summer months 
I really need another chest freezer and more kegs so I can do this…That sounds ridiculously awesome.
I’m picking up a new freezer tomorrow for this exact purpose. ;D ;D ;D
We have three now :
You won’t regret it!
It often does. Nothing like a refreshing lager on a warm sunny day.
It depends on how well the beer has been fermented.
If you control temperatures well early, then give the beer a bit of well-timed warm conditioning to clean up the last of the diacetyl and acetaldehyde and blow off any sulfur, then a well-behaved yeast should be clean by the end of about 3 weeks of fermentation. Then you really only need to drop the yeast. When I use WLP830, I usually only lager for the 2 or 3 weeks that it takes to drop the beer to crystal clarity.
If you are worried about releasing gas, you can do so by pulling the ring on the release valve, but I find it unnecessary.
As you bring the beer temperature down, it is able to absorb more CO2 in solution. I usually keep 3-5 psi on the keg as it is lagering because I find it actually takes in a little more CO2 than the yeast gives off from any remaining activity. When you’ve lagered as much as you want, you can simply increase your pressure for the desired carbonation level and serve. Very easy and clean.