First Brew Tonight

So my NB Deluxe kit arrived, as did my AHS Sam Adams Mini Mash Kit....

Tonight is the night.

However, since I dont have a place to keep the carboy cold and lager, I ordered a Calfornia Lager Yeast from White Labs in place of the reccommended yeast from AHS. (German lager)

What can I expect for differences? Anything I should do different?

You need an ale yeast. Lager yeast will want to be cold.

I got the California Lager because the reccommended temps were "up to 65"... I keep my house at 63, so I thought that would work.

emtlibby said:

I got the California Lager because the reccommended temps were "up to 65"... I keep my house at 63, so I thought that would work.

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Air temp and wort temp are two different things... While actively fermenting your wort can easily be 10 or so degrees above your air temp.

oh boy, so i probably need to find a cooler place for this to live....

Is there an ale yeast anyone can reccommend that would work?

I use US-05 exclusively but I stick to pretty standard American Ales.

You could try putting your fermenter in an big bucket full of water and use frozen 2-liter bottles (or something similar) to keep it at the right temp. You'll have to monitor it pretty regularly, but it should get you past...

I'm not super knowledgeable on yeasts though, so I can't help you much there. I'm sure someone else will chime in however.

You'll be fine...it isn't as exact of a science as it's always made out to be.

It may have a little of flavor but I've fermented 10+ degrees ambient then what was recommended and the beer still drank...could it be better? Of course...but with my first brew, most of my off flavors aren't attributed to the temperature but other goofs that I have since corrected.

I wouldn't expect it to come out exactly like Sam Adams though...

The 10 degree thing is heresay anyway. I've never seen evidence that proves it. Maybe 3-5 degrees at max.

BurntOrngeLonghorn84 said:

The 10 degree thing is heresay anyway. I've never seen evidence that proves it. Maybe 3-5 degrees at max.

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I have 10.5 gal actively fermenting right now and though the air temp in my garage is in the high 50's, I woke up this morning to 70 degree wort.
Though I do have them in an insulated chamber which most likely helps them warm up like that. Sometimes it's a guessing game as to how I should set my fermentation chamber (to cool, heat, or just leave it off..)