Does an interruption in lagering, or swing in temperature effect a beer? My issue is, I only have one fridge available for lagering, which doubles as my fermentation fridge. Asked differently, if I had a helles in its 2nd week of lagering, and wanted to ferment a belgian pale ale at 67 degrees, could I remove the helles, dial in the temp for the Belgian Pale (at least for a few days), then after the first phase of fermentation is done on the BPA, start lagering the helles again?
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Since no one has volunteered an answer, I'll say that I think you will be fine doing this. Ideally, do the Helles lagering in a keg with just a touch of pressure to ensure that no oxidation can occur. Lagering is achieved when everything that can fall out of suspension does fall out, and moving the vessel around isn't exactly conducive to this, but I don't think it will hurt the beer. You might need an extra week once you put the Helles back int eh fridge for it to drop clear, as compared to if you left it in the whole time.– GHPOct 10, 2012 at 12:39
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1You should make this an answer.– mdmaOct 11, 2012 at 13:54
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1 Answer
Its fine. There isn't anything magical going on. Its just cold temps and stuff falling out of solution to make clear beer and let the flavors develop. I find that most of my lagers taste great right out of the fermentor before I lager. If your primary fermentation was done correctly there almost isn't any need for an extended lager period on flavor.
So the only thing you'll be slowing down will be the clearing period. You beer will suffer no harm. Just be careful about moving it around so you don't stir up sediment too much (even that isn't a big deal).
