I am looking to make a 15 gallon batch of a variation on Bier Muncher's Cream of the Crops Corn ale and want to experiment by splitting this into 3 separate fermentors using 3 different yeast: White labs American ale (WL060), White Labs Cream Ale and White labs San Francisico lager. I have had great success with the American ale yeast strain but I have not tried the cream ale or SF lager strain and I have a few questions:
1. For the cream ale yeast what would be the best temperature to try to ferment at? It list the range of 65-70 F but could I have a successfull fermentation below 65 F? Like maybe 60-62 F in case I use a water bath to help keep the temp down for the fermentor.
2. What would be a good temp range to use the SF lager yeast for comparison? I know it can go up to 65 F but would temps in the range of 55-60 F be best for this yeast in my experiment?
3. When making a large starter for the SF lager yeast do I need to ferment the starter in the temp range that I plan on fermenting the beer in? Is doing this at room temp bad starter temp for a lager yeast?
4. Will I pitch the SF lager yeast the same way I pitch an ale yeast on top of the wort in my fermentor or should I have the yeast starting at the bottom and add the wort on top of it?
Thank you,
1. For the cream ale yeast what would be the best temperature to try to ferment at? It list the range of 65-70 F but could I have a successfull fermentation below 65 F? Like maybe 60-62 F in case I use a water bath to help keep the temp down for the fermentor.
2. What would be a good temp range to use the SF lager yeast for comparison? I know it can go up to 65 F but would temps in the range of 55-60 F be best for this yeast in my experiment?
3. When making a large starter for the SF lager yeast do I need to ferment the starter in the temp range that I plan on fermenting the beer in? Is doing this at room temp bad starter temp for a lager yeast?
4. Will I pitch the SF lager yeast the same way I pitch an ale yeast on top of the wort in my fermentor or should I have the yeast starting at the bottom and add the wort on top of it?
Thank you,