I’m doing my first lager this weekend, a Munich Helles. I’m planning out my brew day as well as the fermentation and lagering schedule. I plan to lager in a keg after a 3 week fermentation. It got my thinking, are most if not all kegged homebrews lagered? Very few of us keep our ales and lagers separated in the frig/kegerators. I bet most people keep there temps in the 36 to 40ish range. If that is the case, are we not lagering our ales over time too? I keep my kegerator at 37.
I could be totally off base but was wondering what others thought.
I lager all my beer in a keg, uncarbonated and with gelatin, once it is pouring clear (takes anywhere from a few days to a few weeks), I transfer it to a second keg using a keg jumper – just a bev tube with liquid quick disconnects on both ends – and transfer nothing but crystal clear uncarbonated beer to the second keg. I then force carb the second keg by jacking up the pressure to 30psi until it tastes right.
I do this so I can move a keg and not have to worry about mixing up all the crap on the bottom, and this way, as the previous poster said, the entire keg is delicious, rather than just the last half.
[quote=“alanzo”]I lager all my beer in a keg, uncarbonated and with gelatin, once it is pouring clear (takes anywhere from a few days to a few weeks), I transfer it to a second keg using a keg jumper – just a bev tube with liquid quick disconnects on both ends – and transfer nothing but crystal clear uncarbonated beer to the second keg. I then force carb the second keg by jacking up the pressure to 30psi until it tastes right.
I do this so I can move a keg and not have to worry about mixing up all the crap on the bottom, and this way, as the previous poster said, the entire keg is delicious, rather than just the last half. [/quote]
Yum. You paint a vivid picture, my friend. I’ll agree with this premise because I do keep secondaries of lager in my “on-deck” fridge and also kegs of either lager OR ale in that same fridge which is set to about 35-36° and those beers may sit in there at that temp for months before they move to the draft fridge. I’m all about “smooth, balanced beer” and I just happen to believe that beer that is properly handled (all the way through the process) and allowed to smooth out tastes the best. Cheers Beerheads.
I lager all of my beers as well, even the ales (which are mostly what I brew).
I believe that any beer benefits from at least a few weeks of very cold storage (and in some cases, far longer). Even if, in the end, they are served at temperatures not so cold.
Years ago I modified my brew schedule to factor in that observation, and for the last 15 years (at least) it has been very rare that I’ll tap into a keg that hasn’t spent at least a month or two cold aging. The only exceptions have been a few quickie dark milds that seemed to taste pretty good just a couple weeks after brewing.
It always bears repeating, though, that personal taste plays a big role in this…any beer is ready to drink when your own palate says it’s ready.
