Can i Lager in the bottle?

[Froggit]

Ive been lagering my lager in FV's then bottling/carbing and then conditioning in the bottle.

Seems a little pointless to me, after fermentation can i just bottle/carb and then lager/condition in the bottle?

[CestrIan]

Not really. One of the points of lagering is so all of the proteins that form chill haze drop out in the FV or secondary. If you just bottle/carb and then lager/condition in the bottle then all the crap that your trying to precipitate by lagering will be in your bottles!

[Froggit]

Not really. One of the points of lagering is so all of the proteins that form chill haze drop out in the FV or secondary. If you just bottle/carb and then lager/condition in the bottle then all the crap that your trying to precipitate by lagering will be in your bottles!

Yea i thought this was a possibility but if im happy to have the crap sat in the bottom of my bottle will bottle conditioning have any other detremental effect, i was just thinking that its quite ok to bottle condition beer so why not lager.
I was of the opinion due to john palmer that the lagering phase was to finish fermentation but my lagers at 2c dont seem to ferment anymore and this is what has got me thinking along this route.

[CestrIan]

It's not just the haze forming proteins though. Lager yeast has poor flocculation and if you bottle early and end up with too much in your bottles then they will not clear.
I think that the proteins might well settle out eventually, but as lagers are usually carbonated more than ale, they might get thrown back in to solution when you pop the cap.

It would be a good experiment to bottle half the batch and bulk condition half the batch for 4-6 weeks and then bottle the other half and compare the two over time. Haze forming components can affect shelf life as well as clarity, so the flavours of the two halves may differ more over time.

[Froggit]

ok, cheers for that
i might just try a split batch!

[CestrIan]

Let us know how you get on.

[louiscowdroy]

I made the mistake last Xmas of putting a lager in secondary for to long and then bottling, i lost all the carbonation through my own fault, priming secondary FV but airlocking it......all the carbonartion escaped and i was left with flat lager....i bottled anyway and left for ages, but nothing it was awful.......totally my fault....

[suttonbrewer]

I made my first all grain pilsner a few months back and bottle conditioned mine with no problems.
I fermented in the brew fridge at 12 degrees and ramped up the temperature to 20 degrees when the gravity hit 1.020. When the fermentation had finished bottled the beer with a level teaspoon of brewing sugar, bottles put back in brewfridge for a few days at 20 degrees to get the fizz. I then dropped the temperature to 1 degree and kept it there until beer had cleared which was about five weeks. The end result was one of the finest lagers I have ever tasted, perfectly clear and no sediment rising when opening the bottles.
I have just made another one to the same recipe and am using the same method.

[Manx Guy]

Hi!

I've tried both methods and I have to say (and its purely anecdotal) but bilk lagering has the edge.

There is still enough yeast in suspension once the beer is clear to prime the bottles and carbonate, although it does take a good while (4 weeks)

Lagering kit beer brewed with a lager yeast in the bottle I would say is fine as long as you allow as much yeast as possible to drop out in primary/(short) secondary chilling does help this...

Good luck & let us know how you get on!

Guy

[Froggit]

Well this is probably a bad idea but im not going to split a batch, im going to do 2 identical 23l batches.
My plan is a very simple plain lager.
4.0kg Pilsner Malt
0.5kg Cara-Pils
Single infusion mash at 64c with mashout.
First wort addition of 40g hallertauer hersbrucker
Then 20g saaz at 15mins
WLP830 yeast starter.
OG - 1.045
IBU - 26.7
EBC - 6.1
ABV - 4.8

One batch will be fermented for 2 weeks at 10c then 2 days diacetyl rest, batch primed and bottled a week at room temperature then into lagering/conditioning at 2c for 8 weeks.
One batch will be fermented for 2 weeks at 10c then 2 days diacetyl rest, moved to clean fv, lagering for 4 weeks at 2c then batch primed and bottled a week at room temperature then conditioning at 2c for 4 weeks

Appreciate any thoughts anyone has to add!

Will let you know the results around october.

Wondering if i should use kwickclear on both, maybe not, as clarity will be intersting to compare.

[Froggit]

thinking about it for consistance i will do a single batch and just split at the end of fermentation.

[stringy]

How did you get on Forggit? Did you go ahead with this experiment??

[fatbelly]

The end result was one of the finest lagers I have ever tasted, perfectly clear and no sediment rising when opening the bottles.
I have just made another one to the same recipe and am using the same method.

HI SB I am about to do my 1st AG Lager / Pisner, can you post the recipe and any tips?
Thanks FB

[darkonnis]

I might have to try this lagering stuff. A corny full can't hurt too much

[Froggit]

How did you get on Forggit? Did you go ahead with this experiment??

Sorry been quite inactive, my bottle lagered lager tasted fine and no problems, more sediment in the bottom than the bulk lagered beer but i was expecting that.

Not tried the bulk lagered yet!