Should I rack my beer from a secondary fermenter to a tertiary fermenter?!
Answers: I'm brewing a honey lager and I'm curious about the aging of a lager beer. I've never used lager yeast before so I'm not sure what to do. I've got my beer fermenting now at 47 degrees F and I'm getting a lot of sedimentation after about a week. I'm wondering if I should rack it again to a fresh carboy. I've already got about an inch of sediment on the bottom, maybe more. I know that there probably isn't an exact answer to this question, but I'd like to hear some pros and cons for racking my beer again. If you have experience with beer brewing, I'd appreicate your insight. Thanks.
Depending on how long it was in primary and secondary, it might not be a bad idea. Especially if there's an inch of lees already. If you are planning on bulk aging it, then you certainly want to rack it again before aging.
There are really no cons to racking, only pros. The major one is getting it off the lees before autolysis kicks in.
The longer the beer sits in the sediment, the more likely it is to pick up off-tastes. It certainly can't hurt to rack it to a tertiary and it will probably help if you are planning to lager more than a couple of weeks more. It will give you a clearer beer if you do.
You might need to because of the sediment BUT there is a downside to re-racking. Each time increases the risk of contamination. The best brewer I know avoids it whenever possible.
That is a rather detail question..
not many here have the first hand knowledge to address your problem
BUT
my favorite web forums
http://www.thebeveragepeople.com
and
http://www.samualadams.com
and
http://winemakermag.com/
if it's only been a week and the air lock is going strong, don't let the setiment scare you. If you transfer too soon you will end up with sediemnt in your secondary too. They yeast are busy doing thier thing...let them do it. ..they won't mess up the flavor this early in the fermenting process. Transfer to a secondary fermenter when the airlock slows down to a slower rate...like a bubble every 5 or better yet ...10 seconds.