bottling lagers

I think you can bottle it at a cold temp, but your priming sugar solution will mix more easily at a warmer temp. You'll want it close to room temp anyway for the priming sugar to ferment for a few days.

 

It'd do best at room temp. You can chill it back down after you are fully carbed. Bottling it at about 55F would probably work and would probably be slower. It's up to you.

 

I typically just pull my fermenter out of the chamber, rack to the bottling bucket and add my priming sugar solution... Even when I just cold crashed down to 35F or so. Temperature has had no effect for me, as long as I was careful to stir gently and ensure that it was mixed thoroughly.

 

I would rack to a bottling bucket when cold, add priming solution, stir gently, and bottle before it warms, which could help minimize oxygen pickup (but this would not be the most important factor in any event - that would be racking gently, avoiding splashing, etc.). Once in the bottle it needs to warm up to prime.

 

I'm not sure what you mean here, but stirring cold beer in open air will pick up more oxygen than stirring warm beer in open air.

 

Nevermind, I got it backwards. Greater oxygen solubility in colder solution. It is critical that stirring is gentle

 

Word.

My solution to the "at what temperature should I prime my lagers" and "how do I get the sugar to dissolve evenly at cold temps" dilemmas is kegging. It's what lagers were intended for anyway. You can always rack away from sediment in a keg. But you can't remove it from a bottle. Except that some of it will be removed (and sent to the glass) when pouring, even with the most careful pour.

I will say in advance of the impending holy war that some people are pretty dang good at minimizing the amount of sediment that gets out with a careful pour.

 

I thought my bottles lagers were all pretty good, but my kegged lagers have bee better, IMO. (Even the one with the diacetyl problem -- plugging other thread)

 

Got a German Pilsner right now lagering that tasted great when xfering to keg @ 2 weeks (after 2 day diacetyl rest)...then not so good after keg cold-crashing for a week, then better, but perceptible after another Drest for a full week. I'm tempted to do another Drest before carbing, even though I know there can't be much yeast left after ~ month...Krausening not an option at this point...so don't even ask cheers