How long to lager a Munich Dunkel?

[Fremont Brewer]

Hello everyone,

I have a question about lagering a Dunkel? This is a darker beer, should it be a shorter lager time than a kolsh or a Helles? How long should I cold condition this for? What do you guys do? Thanks in advance.

[brewinhard]

Depends what yeast you used and its flocculating properties. Last Dunkel I brewed I found it tasted best at about 5-7 weeks lagering in the keg, but with the use of darker grains (I used carafa and melanoiden) the antioxidant properties can assist the aging.

[ajdelange]

One of the most interesting things you can do in brewing is tracking the changes in a beer over the lagering period. It's tough to do though because it means you can only drink a pint a week if you want to track things over 40 weeks (assumes 5 gal corny). The solution to this is to brew several kegs full but that may not be an option.

Most lagers will be drinkable if a little green with a few weeks of lagering. Given that it takes weeks to get past this point it is amazing how fast the changeover takes place once it starts. The beer will continue to improve for months and months. Towards the end of a year the hops start to fade and the diacetyl may start to creep up.

All this assumes that the beer is lagering on its yeast, that it is stored cold and that no air made it into the keg(s) i.e. that they were counter pressure filled.