Do you leave Lager Kits to clear?

[Dapex]

Hi all, I am on first lager brewing kit.. been told by a friend to leave it a few weeks after it fermented to clear and seetle before I bottle and then second fermentation.. is this right ??

nothing on the instructions mentions this ?

Does anyone use anything to help it clear and look nicer in the bottles ? I have been told about white labs Clarity ferm, but i cant tell if thats for people brewing from scratch or not ?

Cheers

 

[Class68driver]

I've never done that on any lager kits, I bottle it when it's achieved the required FG and then leave them for a few weeks and I've always had perfectly clear lager.

 

[G-Town Brewer]

Hi all, I am on first lager brewing kit.. been told by a friend to leave it a few weeks after it fermented to clear and seetle before I bottle and then second fermentation.. is this right ??

nothing on the instructions mentions this ?

Does anyone use anything to help it clear and look nicer in the bottles ? I have been told about white labs Clarity ferm, but i cant tell if thats for people brewing from scratch or not ?

Cheers

You should leave all beers a few weeks after fermentation to condition and clear. A good template is the 2-2-2 method. 2 weeks in the fermenter, 2 weeks carbing in bottle/keg, 2 weeks conditioning (most beers will benefit from longer, 2 weeks is a minimum).

I've never found a need to clear with finings as most beers will be clear after 4 weeks in bottle and will remain so if you pour carefully.

 

[Covrich]

If you cam wait, I think 3 weeks in FV is better than 2

 

[Cheshire Cat]

Cold crash for >=2 week in the fermenter at 4C. Don’t bottle cloudy beer unless it’s designed to be cloudy. Then carbonate for 2 weeks minimum, condition for 4 weeks @4C.

 

[White Rose Al]

Patience is a brewers best friend.

Personally I would leave it for longer

 

[AnimatedGIF]

The only lager kit I did was crystal clear after spending the winter in the garage (I forgot about it and when I found it 4 months later, it was so clear!). Admittedly that was in a keg, but I see no reason bottles wouldn't clear too. At the time, I had no facility to cold crash or anything like that.

 

[Weizenberg]

For lager a cold fermentation schedule does wonders (8-10C).

Pending on a few factors, like oxygen at pitch, vitality, cell count, fermenter shape, pressure, OG, the primary fermentation should be complete within two weeks max. Usually the temperature is a bell curve with a slight plateau. Then it depends on what you can do next.

Professionals will store (lager it) with temperatures slowly decreasing towards 0 Celsius over a 2-12 week timespan (pending on wanted outcome and equipment).

For us, bottling at this stage is an excellent option. Keep it at 5 Celsius. It will clear given enough time.

I'm a huge fan of bottle conditioned beer.

Cold crashing and getting it off the old yeast cake, like someone suggested, is an excellent idea. One wants to have as few old yeast cells as possible to avoid the off-tastes from autolysis.

Fermentation is a fascinating subject. The outcome in the final product is substantial.

I'd avoid storing it above 5C.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

For lager a cold fermentation schedule does wonders (8-10C).

Pending on a few factors, like oxygen at pitch, vitality, cell count, fermenter shape, pressure, OG, the primary fermentation should be complete within two weeks max. Usually the temperature is a bell curve with a slight plateau. Then it depends on what you can do next.

Professionals will store (lager it) with temperatures slowly decreasing towards 0 Celsius over a 2-12 week timespan (pending on wanted outcome and equipment).

For us, bottling at this stage is an excellent option. Keep it at 5 Celsius. It will clear given enough time.

I'm a huge fan of bottle conditioned beer.

Cold crashing and getting it off the old yeast cake, like someone suggested, us also an excellent idea. One wants to have as few old yeast cells as possible to avoid the off-tastes from autolysis.

Fermentation us a fascinating subject. The outcome in the final product is substantial.

I'd avoid storing it above 5C.

Excellent post.