So I’ve fermented a munich dunkel at 50f for about a month now, but I need to free up that space for another beer so i racked the dunkel into a corny and let it continue aging at room temperature (I wont be serving for a few months so I’m not ready to bottle or hit with Co2). Is there anything wrong with this? Will letting it sit at room temperature for a few weeks after it’s lagered affect the flavor? Theoretically the fermentation period should have already given it the flavor it needs right?
you aren’t lagering.
You need to cold storage to lager.
[quote=“muddywater_grant”]you aren’t lagering.
You need to cold storage to lager.[/quote]
Ok but I want to do it warm so if i lagered a dunkel at 40f and had another batch of the same exact beer that i conditioned at 70f you would be able to point out the one that was lagered in a blind taste test?
I wouldn’t say positively yes, but if a lager never undergoes the cold maturation process, I’d suspect that there would be a detectable difference. Maybe like the crisp/clean difference between a cream ale and a pilsner.
Based on my limited experience, a lager that is fermented at the proper lager temps, but then aged at cellar temps will be better than one brewed at lager temps and not aged at all.
You’ll be fine, the higher temp will act as a nice diacetyl rest.
Lager yeast tends to be pretty powdery. Of all the supposed benefits of cold conditioning, the only one I’m definitely sold on is that it helps the yeast drop clear. Warm storage can meet that end as well, but it may take quite a bit longer.
Yup, if its room temp than by definition its not “lagering”. Depending on the yeast and the beer, you might still get decent results, but you haven’t technically lagered.
If you want a nice clear clean light colored lager, than honest to god lagering is the only way to get there. A lot of people even “lager” their ales, although its usually called cold conditioning in that context.
You can try anything you like, but I’d doubt you’ll be happy with the results. A lager needs lagering.
