Hey all quick question is there any preferred method for lagering. do you lager for a few weeks then carbonate Mor do you lager and carbonate at the same time does it make a difference? cheers!
Lagering in the serving keg is, IMO, ok, assuming there was a cold crash (or fining) before kegging to drop out most of the particulates and keep them out of the packaged beer. The small amount of residual stuff will be sucked out with the first pours. (Not really all of it, but it's a relatively harmless misconception.) That said, I don't think carbonation impedes the lagering process (gravity).
Modern brewers often carbonate naturally, and use spunding techniques to achieve a desired level of carbonation before lagering, allowing for a more controlled and faster process. That said, I do let mine lager for a week or so in the primary before moving it to a keg and cabonating it for the rest of the lager period. This also allows for easy removal of much of the remaining trub early in the lagering process.
I rack my beer from my fermenter into my spunding/serving keg a few points from FG, let it naturally carb, cold crash and lager. I don't ever use external CO2 except for serving, all my beers are naturally carbonated. I utilize floating dip tubes most of the time in my kegs to draw from the top. No issue with trub/hops/yeast left behind. I've done it this way for years with all my beers. Great results.
