Budweiser kit into a steam beer?

So, I'm having a lot of fun homebrewing so far. Finished 3 extract kits. My dad bought me a Budweiser clone kit from Midwest with my equipment. Don't have any place to lager yet. My question is- what could I transform this kit into? If I used the dried lager yeast and fermented like an ale, it would technically be a steam beer, right? I also have a couple lbs. Light DME sitting around.

BigBrewHawk said:

So, I'm having a lot of fun homebrewing so far. Finished 3 extract kits. My dad bought me a Budweiser clone kit from Midwest with my equipment. Don't have any place to lager yet. My question is- what could I transform this kit into? If I used the dried lager yeast and fermented like an ale, it would technically be a steam beer, right? I also have a couple lbs. Light DME sitting around.

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Rather than a lager yeast at ale temperatures, which can cause some foul flavors (the steam beer yeast is a different strain), I'd go ahead and get "clean" well attenuating ale yeast strain like nottingham yeast. If you can put it in a cool place like a basement it will still be really good! I have fermented nottingham at 60 degrees (it goes down to 57 pretty easily) and had a very nice lager-like beer.

maybe, depends on the extract in the kit. Steam beer is not just a Bud fermented warm. It should be malty with some toasty flavors. Northern Brewer hops are needed. Color should be almost copper. I suspect you're gonna need some specialty grains to turn that kit into a California common.

Awesome! Thanks for the info. I will look for some northern brewer at the supply shop. So, the kit includes 3.3 lbs Pilsen light LME and 2 lbs rice syrup solids. Also included 8 oz. of crushed CaraPils. (This leads me to a follow up question- how old is TOO old on these ingredients? I've read a little about the importance of fresh LME, and this kit has been sitting for around 6 months.) a lot of the threads on here are telling rookies like me to stick with the recipes, and I understand why. I'm just not thrilled to make a Bud clone, and I can't stand to see these ingredients go to waste. Thanks again for ANY input you can offer!

Also, the dry yeast included is Saflager S-23. The description reads that it will "ferment well in lagers and pilseners at slightly higher temps. (between 59 and 68• F) but the estery, fruity tones are better developed lower (between 49 and 57• F)" This (S-23) is also the base dry yeast option in Midwest's California Common kit. Think I should give it a shot down in my basement? It's getting hot here in Iowa, but I think the floor is still well under 70 degrees.

Your best bet is still the Notty or maybe US-05 instead of the S-23. S-23 is a true lager yeast. I've used it at ale temps before, and it really isn't very good. If you can keep an ale yeast at 65F or below, it will produce less esters, and give the beer a little crisper, cleaner flavor. Even if you ferment one of the ale yeasts at 70F, you are still going to have a better beer than using S-23 at 70F.

Thanks JJL, I will squash that part of the plan.

If I were you, I'd ditch the carapils (6 month old crushed grain isn't great).
I did not see the hops mentioned [must resist Budweiser having no hops joke, oh too late!].

So basically, take the extract, look here for a nice Centennial Blonde, and go buy the other stuff (hops, yeast, specialty grains) to make a good beer.