condition lager in corny, laying on its side

[Emc]

I would like to make an german alt, my father in law is from dusseldorf, and was going to use the recipe from jamil's classic styles book. The recipe says after primary fermentation to lager the beer. Due to lack of space in my fridge, I was tempted to condition the ale in a corny keg, laying on its side in a big picnic igloo type ice chest I have. Keg will fit, figure dump in ice to try and control the temp. I have read not to ferment in cornys, not the right angle, bad pressure on yeast etc, anyone see any reason why conditioning/lagering sideways in an ice chest would be a bad idea? Would actually rack it off the into a fresh keg to carbonate to get it off ant secondary yeast bed, since i believe half the point in layering is to help get the yeast to drop out. Thoughts or suggestions for those with more experience than me, which will be most...

[Bugeater]

If you are looking to drop the yeast, laying it on its side is definitely the right thing to do. The yeast only has to drop 7 inches instead of 25 inches. It will clear quite a bit quicker that way. No problem at all doing it that way.

Wayne

[EagleDude]

If you are looking to drop the yeast, laying it on its side is definitely the right thing to do. The yeast only has to drop 7 inches instead of 25 inches. It will clear quite a bit quicker that way. No problem at all doing it that way.

Wayne

Well, I see two problems with laying it on the side then transferring to another keg. First, yes you only have 7 inches for the yeast to drop, but you will only be able to push half of the beer out of the keg before sucking gas. Second, to get the rest of the beer out, you will have to turn the keg upright which will mix the yeast back up.

Given that you need to lager on it's side, I would cold crash and let as much yeast settle as possible, then transfer to the keg for lagering. At least that way, you are getting the cold conditioning period and hopefully shouldn't have too much yeast being swirled back into solution when you move the keg back upright.

[Bugeater]

When I do this method, I gently tip the keg back upright and let it sit for another 3-4 days. The yeast slowly slides down the wall without going back into solution.


Wayne

[brewinhard]

Good tip Bug!

[DannyW]

I did something similar to this and just racked to a clean keg through the gas post while feeding gas in through the liquid post. The stubby gas dip tube provided just enough of a stand pipe to leave the junk behind and let me draw clear beer down to the last couple centiliters.

Helps to put the gas post at the 6:00 position when laying the keg down, of course.

[Quin]

I did something similar to this and just racked to a clean keg through the gas post while feeding gas in through the liquid post. The stubby gas dip tube provided just enough of a stand pipe to leave the junk behind and let me draw clear beer down to the last couple centiliters.

Helps to put the gas post at the 6:00 position when laying the keg down, of course.

+1 I use this same procedure to transfer star san out of the kegs under pressure since I've cut 1" off all of my dip tubes.

[EagleDude]

I did something similar to this and just racked to a clean keg through the gas post while feeding gas in through the liquid post. The stubby gas dip tube provided just enough of a stand pipe to leave the junk behind and let me draw clear beer down to the last couple centiliters.

Helps to put the gas post at the 6:00 position when laying the keg down, of course.

Thanks DannyW ... when I take a keg camping, I usually stand the keg up through the beverage door in the ice chest to cool, transport, and dispense my beer. Although for a different purpose, using this technique I can keep the entire keg cold (not just the lower portion that is being served) and still be able to dispense all or most of the beer. As a bonus, I"ll be saving ice in the process.

As for the original post, sounds like my concerns can all be solved by a few tweaks in your process. Go for it. And thanks for posting ... I learned something extra on this one.