After active fermentation and a diacetyl rest, can you count the temperature drop to 32-24F as part of the lagering process timeline or do you start the clock at your target temperature? How long do you keep it at 32-34F? Can you keg condition a lager or do you have to force carbonate?
Lagers were traditionally carbonated by spunding — so I’d say, Yes: you can naturally condition lagers in the keg.
The word lager literally means to store which in brewing parlance is to age. When the beer has finished fermenting and you transfer it to your keg, regardless of temperature or carbonation method, the lagering/aging process has begun.
In my brewery, your mileage may vary, I put the beer in the fridge to lager. It is at peak flavor after about 4 weeks. Peak flavor generally aligns with maximum clarity. The beers look clear after 10-14 days but they slowly get more clear for 3-4 weeks.
I would count the cold crash time. I don’t cold crash though. I just move it to the keg and put on the co2 and wait.
PS. That is for lagers. I don’t wait quite as long for ales.
Thank you. I still have my in a glass carboy and should have transferred it.
Lagering Traditional German brewing methods as described by Kunze (in Technology Brewing and Malting) recommends one week of lagering for each degree Plato of original extract. That’s a long time!
However, many homebrewers lager for far shorter times: for as long as it takes for the beer to drop bright, ~4-6 weeks on average.
Either way, fermentation and maturation (D rest) should be complete before lagering begins to ensure byproducts are metabolized.
It’s worth mentioning: As opposed to a “Cold Crash”, both Palmer (in How to Brew) and Strong (in Brewing Better Beer) recommend reducing temperature gradually by not more than 10°F per day to the lager temp (34-36°F) over three to five days so yeast don’t produce lipids that can cause off flavors and hurt head retention.
With most temperature controllers it is hard to control the rate of cooling. You can change the setpoint by 2 degrees 5 times a day, but getting up in the middle of the night is a real pain. Fortunately, I have an home-built and programmed Arduino controller. It can measure the rate of change of temperature and feed back on that to keep the cooling rate constant. I have it programmed for 10 F/day. I can’t say that I have noticed a big difference between that and a full-power cold crash (about 20 F/day), but it is easy for me to do.
Many brewers don’t count hours or days. Ferment until it’s done. Condition until it looks and tastes great.
I agree with Dave. I usually ferment until no change in gravity, then rack to serving keg and lager until I get to it (a couple weeks to a couple months, depending on demand.)
+1 with Dave. Ferment un 'til it is done. I then cold crash to about 35 degrees and carbonate for 24-30 hours at 30 PSI. After that, I lager until it tastes good and the carbonation feels about right