how long should I leave a lager in secondary fv

[MaltyMat]

Hi,

I am almost ready to bottle my first AG lager, and have a question on how long to keep it in my secondary FV before bottling it.

I fermented it in the primary FV at 11oC for about 13 days (SG: 1.042 - FG 1.010) and have had it in a secondary FV for 2 weeks now at around 5oC. is this long enough in the secondary to lager, or should I leave it longer before I bottle it? ( After I bottle it I won't be able to keep it at such cool temperatures and it would be left bottled at around 19oC until I drink it, as I will only be able to store it in a cupboard at room temp).

Thanks in advance.

 

[pittsy]

hi mat i have a few books on lagering and most say around 1 month, you only needed to do 1st fv for a week then 2nd fv for 1 month at 7c dropping over 2 weeks to around 1c then when 1 month over bring back up to approx 15c for 3 days then prime and bottle , so 2 weeks more should do it :thumb:

 

[MaltyMat]

Hi Pittsy, Thanks for the help. Looks like I'll try and hold out for another couple of weeks then. I don't think I can drop the temp down to 1oC (My fermenting box seems to only get down to around 4oC ). Would it do any harm if I leave it at just 5oC for the next couple of weeks?

 

[Darcey]

hi mat i have a few books on lagering and most say around 1 month, you only needed to do 1st fv for a week then 2nd fv for 1 month at 7c dropping over 2 weeks to around 1c then when 1 month over bring back up to approx 15c for 3 days then prime and bottle , so 2 weeks more should do it :thumb:

Why have I not seen this before!!!

Planning a few Kolsh.. then 50l real lager for NEXT summer..

 

[Mr BR]

dont mean to hijack the thread but it aint LARGER its LAGER :thumb:

 

[MaltyMat]

I knew it didn't look right (no excuses). I have edited the post.

 

[Good Ed]

You should leave the lager in the FV for as long as it takes to get to a stable SG; a rough guide is 1 day for each 4 gravity points, however I have left some fermenting at 9C for 4 weeks. To lager, then rack into a second FV or carboy, ideally you want to have as little head space as possible or to purge with CO2, and to lager at say 1-2C for 4-6weeks. Unfortunately my fridge has packed up so I now just leave my lagers in the cellar to condition like my ales. I still am able to produce a good beer and find that WLP833 produces a nice clean beer.