Question for the board. I currently have a Kolsch sitting in my primary bucket for 4 weeks. I discovered during fermentation that the lid on my bucket no longer kept a seal so I had to open the lid and verify fermentation was proceeding as it should. At 2 weeks I checked the gravity and confirmed fermentation was complete, then put the lid back on and turned the temp down to 40 degrees for a good lagering period (note it is still in primary bucket) where it have rested now for 2 weeks. I recently came across some threads about "too much headspace" which have spooked me a bit. As it stands today, my beer has sat in the primary (6.5 gallon bucket, 5.5 gallons of beer) with exposure to air. Am I at risk for oxidation? Wondering if I should go ahead and bottle this week, let it carbonate 3 weeks, then continue to lager an additional 2-3 weeks, or should I just forget about it?
For me, this is the first time that I have done a long lagering/conditioning phase so I never worried about a secondary. Usually its 3 weeks in primary then bottle, and I normally do not worry about an FG reading on my ales until bottling since I have never experienced issues with a bad fermentation. This time around it was different since its a Kolsch and my lid wasn't air tight. Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks
For me, this is the first time that I have done a long lagering/conditioning phase so I never worried about a secondary. Usually its 3 weeks in primary then bottle, and I normally do not worry about an FG reading on my ales until bottling since I have never experienced issues with a bad fermentation. This time around it was different since its a Kolsch and my lid wasn't air tight. Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks