Racking To Kegs After Fermentation

[keyman]

I have a 10-gallon batch of Oktoberfest at lager temperature of 53°. I will ferment for about 7 to 14 days or until yeast has settled. Then I will raise temperature to around 62° for about 3 days (D-rest). Ok! Here is my question. Can I rack from my fermentation tank into 2 - 5 gallon kegs? After that I will drop the temperature of these two kegs 5 degrees per day until I reach 45° degrees. Then I will hold for about 6 weeks.

 

[BigFloyd]

Can you drop the temp of the fermenter for about a week after the D-rest, but before racking into the kegs?

I like to cold-crash both ales and lagers down to 35-36*F as fast as possible, hold for 5-7 days and then rack. The result - nice clear beer.

 

[rajun50]

I rack from primary to keg, then cold crash and clear with gelatin. Once cleared, I transfer to new kegs. I guess I'm using my kegs as bright tanks. You could do it like you described, but you will end up with some sediment in the bottom of the kegs. They will pour clear after settling, but if you plan to move the kegs you will stir up the settlement and have cloudy beer until it settles again. This is why I transfer to clean kegs and leave all the settlement behind. As long as you don't plan on moving the kegs your method will be perfectly fine. Otherwise, you will need to transfer to clean kegs after the 6 week hold.

 

[BigFloyd]

Since the cold crashing really firms up the yeast/trub layer and I'm careful with my siphoning, little to no junk makes it into the kegs.

IMO, the less you transfer the beer between containers, the better.

 

[keyman]

I should have mentioned that I have a conical tank that has the drain valve about a 6" above the bottom (1 gallon left on bottom) If I drain slow I shouldn't get a lot of sediment. (I hope) So racking to kegs seems to be ok? I had another person tell me that the yeast could build pressure in the kegs. Since I am racking away from the yeast & trub sediment There should not be much yeast left to build pressure. Is that correct to say?

 

[BigFloyd]

I should have mentioned that I have a conical tank that has the drain valve about a 6" above the bottom (1 gallon left on bottom) If I drain slow I shouldn't get a lot of sediment. (I hope) So racking to kegs seems to be ok? I had another person tell me that the yeast could build pressure in the kegs. Since I am racking away from the yeast & trub sediment There should not be much yeast left to build pressure. Is that correct to say?

The yeast isn't going to do anything to build pressure in the kegs unless 1) you add sugar or 2) it's not done fermenting and you haven't yet reached FG.