california common question

It's been a while since I've posted, but in the meantime I brewed a california common style beer using wyeast california lager yeast. We were able to keep it as low as 58-63F for the primary stage. We have moved it to the cellar, which holds at around 55F, for the secondary. Is there any reason to "lager" this beer at this temp? I've read a few threads on this site about steam, but was unable to answer this question fully. Thanks in advance.

it will help, but by no means do you have too.

Is it true 'lagering' though? I've brewed a lot of ales and kept them in secondary at low ale temperature ranges for a long time, which I think is beneficial, but I'm not sure if keeping a lager yeast at higher temperatures, even one which is designed to ferment at higher temperatures, would be a good idea or a bad one. Basically, from what I understand, if your yeast is at the high end of its ideal range, it can produce esters and such other possibly undesirable things. But as a common style beer (read steam), is it more appropriate to bottle as soon as possible so as not to over-ester it or is this ester what is desirable from common style beers? I know this is rambling, sorry .

well, the lagering phase occurs after 90% of the yeast has attenuated. then the temp is lowered to 30-32 degrees for a minimum of 4-6 weeks. a steam beer isn't a true lager, so those steps aren't crucial. the esters are formed during primary when temps are around the higher end of the yeast strains range. a prolonged "cold conditioning" will help any ale prior to packaging. i'd let it sit in the secondary at 55 or so for 2-3 weeks, then bottle as normal. it'll help give it more lager like characteristics, with a cleaner finish than conditioning at, say 70-74 degrees.

Thanks deroux. I dig the new icon.

I actually ferment around 70-ish for my CA Commons. Given the history of the style I felt it would be more in keeping with the spirit of it all. I usually keg it a little on the green side then after a week or so under carb and cold it tastes very nice.