homebrewandbeer.com

I have a question about lagering or cold conditioning.

I generally do the 1 week primary, 1 week secondary and 1 week lagering routine.
Then I transfer to a keg and force carb using the Ross method. The keg is then left in the fridge until I drink it (time varies)

Is there any point in leaving my brew in the secondary fermenter at 2/4 degrees for a week. Or can I just start kegging and carbing up and leaving at the same temperature.
Is there a differnece in the flat beer lagering or the carbed beer maturing/aging?

I like to lager my beers without carbonation until they are nice and clear.

Then I don't think it matters too much, they improve under carbonation.

I've had beer that I've gassed up early and the keg has never cleared up though the flavour has improved.

My method was always 2 or so weeks in primary, depending on the yeast strain, temp, and gravity. Remove from fridge and bring to room temp for a couple days, then a couple days at -1C before racking to the keg and putting it on the gas in the beer fridge. 2 days at -1C is better than 2 weeks at 2 - 4C.