Hi all!

I lagered an American Lager for about 2 weeks in the secondary, then bottled
as I normally have with ales. (I know it was a short lager...things just
worked out that way). I am storing the bottles at the same basic temp I
lagered at (currently about 50F). I opened a bottle after 2 weeks and it
has VERY little carbonation. I can see a dusting on the bottom of the
bottle, and it made a slight psssft, but no real bubbles. Another bottle 3
days later gave pretty much the same result. Am I screwed? Should I have
added more of the lager yeast before bottling? The primary fermentation was
about 2 weeks as well, and I got a good FG. Thanks for your help!!

ChasM

"ChasM" <chasmill70@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:c3b59h$6dk$1@news.astound.net...[color=blue]
> Hi all!
>
> I lagered an American Lager for about 2 weeks in the secondary, then[/color]
bottled[color=blue]
> as I normally have with ales. (I know it was a short lager...things just
> worked out that way). I am storing the bottles at the same basic temp I
> lagered at (currently about 50F). [snip][/color]

You want to condition the bottles at your fermentation temperature, not at
the lagering temp. 50 degrees may be a little too cold for your yeast to be
active enough to ferment the bottling sugar. I'd raise it to 65 degrees or
so, if possible. You could even store the remaining bottles at room
temperature for a few weeks. If you didn't over-prime, you should have no
problems.

As a side note, I personally think 50 is too warm to lager at. I like to
get down to about 35 degrees to get the most of the process. There's
probably nothing wrong with lagering so warm, but this is my preference.
Whatever works for you is just fine.