What to do with my Lager?

[IdleBrewing]

Besides the obvious of course

All grain brew 2 is currently sat in the fermenter bubbling away nicely. As a change I thought I'd attempt to make a ‘nice’ lager - something that would appeal more to the missus. The recipe I've used (knocked up myself so I make no promises as to whether it’s any good!) is:

3kg lager malt
1.5kg Vienna
500g Carapils
50g Torrifed wheat
200g Maize
200g Flaked Rice
1 sachet Saflager S23

15l Mash liquor, 75C strike temp giving a 67C mash that dropped to around 64/65C after an hour
16l 77C batch sparge - left in for 1/4 of an hour

Hops
Centennial 11g @ 60min
Saaz 30g @ 25min
Saaz 35g @ 5min

Giving me exactly 5 gallons of 1.051OG beer in the fermenter (should be about 5.1% 8EBC and 19EBU according to beer engine)

It's currently fermenting at around 16C - about as cold as I reasonably get it (missus is not not happy about me turning off the radiator in the en-suite to get this!)

My current dilemma is what to do with it once it's finished fermenting? I'm thinking of either:

1: Leaving in primary for 2 weeks to give it a chance to clear a bit bottle with 85g of sugar, leave in the warm for a fortnight then transfer to the garage until the summer
2: Transferring to a keg once fermentation slows right down and putting the keg in the garage for a few weeks to 'lager' (Does one seal the keg meaning any residual fermentation will pressurise the thing?) then bottle with sugar and leave warm for a couple of weeks
Or something else.......

Does anyone have any recommendations or suggestions to offer?

Cheers

[nobby]

I would go for number one, but leave it at 20c for only a couple of days. Then store as cold as possible.

[Horatio]

In an ideal world I would go for number 2. Leave it in a keg to lager for as many weeks as you can. It will help make a better lager if you can lager it at about 10 degrees lower than than the fermentation temp for 6 to 8 weeks. Although this may prove difficult if you have no temperature control? I wouldn't lager it the bottle personally as anything that drops out of the beer will still be in the bottle. I like to leave as much behind in mu lagering vessel as I can before I bottle. Although I would leave it in the primary long enough for the yeast to clear up any undisirables.

[bosium]

Maize? Rice? Your beer will taste so much better without those adjuncts to dilute the malt flavour.
Also, next time I'd consider using a less assertive bittering hop, like Magnum or Northern Brewer - or just use more Saaz. Also, my advice would actually be to use Hallertau - Saaz tastes awful when the beer is fresh, takes a long time to mellow out.

If you think you can be bothered, a liquid lager yeast fermented at 10C will do a better job too, but if you must use dry, then use two packets, properly hydrated and ferment a little warmer, say 12C and do a diacetyl rest near to the end of fermentation. A few weeks stored as cold as humanly possible without freezing it will really improve the beer.

[IdleBrewing]

What can I say? I like to experiment a bit . I added the rice in particular as its's supposed to help with clearing - besides it's only a small amount compared to the rest of the malts.

Lack of properly controlled cooling dictated my method, besides I'm not really a lager drinker. I may have to invest in a cheap fridge at some point though. Hopefully the beer will mellow happily in the garage - it's fairly cold out there. The intention is to leave most of it outside until summer.

[Horatio]

What can I say? I like to experiment a bit . I added the rice in particular as its's supposed to help with clearing - besides it's only a small amount compared to the rest of the malts.

Lack of properly controlled cooling dictated my method, besides I'm not really a lager drinker. I may have to invest in a cheap fridge at some point though. Hopefully the beer will mellow happily in the garage - it's fairly cold out there. The intention is to leave most of it outside until summer.

Experimenting is always a good thing I think.

I was never a lager drinker; mainly because the yellow filth they call lager in most pubs isn't fit to flush my toilet with! I made a real lager before xmas and have to say that it one of my best beers to date; and that is after more than twenty years of AG brewing! I've just got a starter on the go for a pilsner and hopfully will have stepped it up enough to pitch into a brew on Monday.

I highly reccomend a fridge if you decide to brew more lagers; it does make a difference to the finished product and you can then brew ales all year round too, knowing that temperature will not be a issue. That said I bet what you brew without a fridge will still be great beer!

Godd luck.

[trucker5774]

The priming sugar level is nearer to an ale than a lager.....................I would be going to more like 150g

[IdleBrewing]

I was pondering whether to up the priming sugar a bit although I'm not a fan of massive fizz. 150g seems a bit high though - you're not trying to get me to blow up my little corner of Yorkshire with beer grenades are you trucker?

Beer still bubbling away happily. Missus still regularly complaining about how cold her towel is without the radiator on. Diddums.