lagering....rule of thumb

[timbo41]

Of I've recently knocked up a sort of Munich dunkel, primary at about 12 foe a week then shifted the yoghurts and squeezed into fridge at about 4c. Its og was 1052, any ideas how long to lager before I bottle
I'm hoping for one of those " for every ten gravity points lager for a week" type answers please...am just a shed Brewer!!

[Rookie]

How anxious are you to drink the beer?
I brewed a pilsner to 1.049 last month and plan to lager for a month, maybe six weeks. On wednesday I'm brewing an octoberfest to around 1.056-58 and will probably lager it for 4-5 months.

[pobrien20]

1st rule of brewing - patience
2nd rule - see above
3rd rule - you get the message

I would have thought only a week in primary is very short, i'd normally leave it for about 3 weeks before lagering (maybe even adding a D-Rest up to 16-18C for a couple of days, a week in).

Then a minimum of at least 6 weeks in lager fridge before going near it. If you can reduce the fridge temp even lower e.g 0-2C that would be even better.

My first few were bottled after primary, but still lagered in fridge for 6-8 weeks. Now I just rack off & into fridge in bulk for 6-8 weeks, then bottled.

If you're short on time for a Helles, brew a Kolsch, can get very similar results, though not as dry/crisp.
On the Dunkel, as its darker, you will get away with slightly less lagering, but any lager really improves with time & lagering.

[timbo41]

thanks, that's cleared up an important point for me. Primary first, longer than I have been, before the temp drop,gradually,to lager temp. Appreciated