I would love to try brewing some lagers, I just got a kegerator so I now have some more temp control on the cool side. My question is can I use my kegerator to do both stages of fermenting a lager along side my ales that are tapped? Will it be okay for the ales to be a little on the warm side during the first stage of lager fermenting at 45-55 degrees? And then will they be okay at a cooler than normal temp for ales during the lagering phase?
Do I really need 2 totally separate fridges for serving ales and fermenting lagers or is there any way to do this in 1 fridge? Has anyone else had any experience with this?
Thanks!
The only beers you really want to drink in the 30’s are American lagers. 45-55 serving temp is a good range for most of the beers I drink.
http://craftbeertemple.com/videoblog/serving-beer/
If I understand your question right, you are asking if it is ok to ferment and then condition (lager) your lagers in the same fridge that you are using for serving your ales from kegs. To my mind, that depends on how important the ale serving temperature is to you. To get this to work, you need to set the temperature according to what the lager needs, and the ales would just come along for the ride. 50F is a decent temp for drinking beers, so no problem with the lager primary stage, but your ales might be too cold to appreciate the flavors properly if served in the 30s.
Then again, try it and see. Worst case is you’ll have to let your beers sit for a while to warm up after you pour them.
I do this exact thing. I have a vertical freezer in my unheated garage with a Johnson temp controller.
I usually have a keg of ale tapped in there and when I do a lager I bump the temp to 54 degrees for lager fermentation, then just pull the carboy out for a day for a D-rest just before I think total fermentation is finished. i
I have a styrofoam ferment chamber that I can manipulate water and Ice to reach that temp range for a day or two.
Once D-rest is over I then ramp the the lager temp down 5 degrees a day to 34 degrees and my ales go along for the ride.
When I serve a pint of ale by the time the head comes to rest the temp is pretty near proper serving temp.
No need for two freezers imo, Unless you got lots of money and lots of room.
