Lagering v. Cold Conditioning v. Fining

[thatguy314]

I've finished primary fermentation on my kolsch and I'm looking to lager / condition it. As lagering is far colder than this yeast likes to function, is it necessary to have yeast in it?

I was thinking I would like to fine this beer with gelatin and/or PVPP. Does it matter whether or not I lager first or fine first? Does fining accellerate lagering or does it do something different?

Thanks!

[dmtaylor]

You should only lager or add finings if fermentation is 100% complete. If you're not sure if fermentation is done yet, take a gravity reading, then wait 3 days, and take gravity again. If it stays the same over 3 days, then you are done, and ready to lager and/or fine.

You don't need to fine your Kolsch. You could if you want, but given 2-3 weeks of lagering, it will clear on its own.

If done right, gelatin clings to yeast instantly and settles out, so you would only need to wait overnight rather than several weeks. I think if you did the gelatin thing, you could skip lagering, IMHO. But I don't do that. I just let it clear itself naturally. I reserve gelatin for more problematic situations.

I'm not sure if PVPP would work on this or not. I think that's more for protein haze. But if you've got a Kolsch, most of your haze is from yeast, so gelatin would work better.

That's everything I know. Take whichever slice you like and go for it.

[thatguy314]

I'm sure it's done fermenting.
Originally I was just going to lager, but this kolsch just didn't want to finish out and took about a week longer to finish out than my last one. Also, my last one didn't get perfectly clear from 3 weeks of lagering, I'm not sure this one will either. I'm exploring my options on this.