Lagering in fermenter

[Gggsss]

Just finished fermenting my first lager (2 x 5l of Vienna). I’m going to lager one batch in the bottle and the second batch in primary.
Question is, does the fermenter need to be airtight or just leave as is with an airlock. The fermenter in question is a PET bottle. Main concern/s are infection and/or oxidation (as active fermentation has finished).

Thanks in advance……

 

[Alastair70]

next step is d-rest. Up the temp to 18C for a few days then start to cold crash.
Yes, your fermenter needs to be airtight, and you’ll suck in at least twice your head space of oxygen on the way down to 1C. I’ve just refilled a 6L balloon of CO2 this evening for the second time. I’ve got a lager from 20C to 6C so far.

 

[Gggsss]

Thanks for the reply.

Done the d rest and cold crashed already. Now just sitting in my cold garage..

 

[Alastair70]

I leave the airlock in which should prevent any more oxygen ingress or contamination.

 

[sifty]

How long are we talking here?

 

[Leon103]

How long are we talking here?

As long as you can manage. Couple of months will be a good start.

 

[sifty]

Ah. Was wondering if an airlock could dry out over that period.

 

[Alastair70]

I’ve a batch of Helles to keg up this evening, it was pretty much done in 4 weeks, but it’s had a 5th. I usually go for 6 weeks, you can always top up the airlock.

 

[Gggsss]

I leave the airlock in which should prevent any more oxygen ingress or contamination.

Sounds good. Exactly as per the current situation

 

[Lynx Brewery]

I’ve a similar question. Brew 65 and my first lager, a Dortmunder Export from a Greg Hughes recipe.

Primary fermentation has finished after about two weeks at 12 Celsius. Recipe calls for “4 weeks conditioning at 3 degrees”.

So, do I leave it in the fermenting vessel, drop the temperature and then prime & bottle after the three weeks?

Or do I prime & bottle it now and keep the bottles at 3C for 3 weeks?

“Conditioning” seems to imply that the beer has already been carbonated.

 

[Lynx Brewery]

** I meant “4 weeks” in the final paragraphs **

 

[Lynx Brewery]

Bump !

 

[Alastair70]

The ‘traditional’ method is to lager in FV, then bottle. This has the disadvantages of relying on tired yeast to carbonate your brew (they should still manage it) and then waiting another 4-odd weeks before tucking in.
I‘ve bottled first, carbed and then lagered in bottle in the past. The advantage is that there’s less chance of a carbonation failure and you can start sampling a couple of weeks into the cold condition. The disadvantage was that clarity suffered a little bit, but I didn’t mind too much.
If you’ve gone high on SO4 with your water profile, good clarity should be easier to achieve regardless.