Vienna lager with California lager yeast?

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phenry

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So I have about 9 lbs of Vienna malt laying around that won't be used up anytime soon (I usually throw a pound or so in for my pale ale grain bills), so I was looking to brew a Vienna lager. I don't have any lagering capabilities at the moment, so I was thinking of trying out California lager yeast since I can hold temps in the low 60's.

Would this be worthwhile or would I be better off just using a clean ale yeast?
 
You know, I use California lager yeast for steam beer and I really like it. But it has a definite fruity taste to it that is distinctively "california lager" if that makes sense.

For a Vienna lager, I'd probably go with a very "clean" neutral ale yeast at a cool temperature if possible. Maybe nottingham at 60 degrees, or pacman at 60-62. I've never done a Vienna lager with it, but I've used pacman for the "Dead Guy" clone a number of times, which is supposed to resemble a maibock. The results were quite good. I'd probably do that, rather than using a steam beer yeast.

For the Vienna, I'd suggest a Hochkurtz double decoction.
 
I have a "California amber lager" lagering that was fermented with cali lager. Yoop is right about the fruitiness, though I fermented mine at 55F and got little esters and the beer is very clean.

I've made a lot of 'pacman lagers' that turned out very good, though I think you need a lager yeast to get that clean, lager profile.
 

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