saflager s-23 and the high temperature

I guess the HBS guy gave me this stuff cause i told him it was my first beer. But i do have temperature control in a keezer for my primary and secondary. The yeast said its good at 51-75* F. Should i just aim for the low end of that scale for primary, And then lager as usual at ~35 for a few weeks in secondary?

Elfmaze said:

I guess the HBS guy gave me this stuff cause i told him it was my first beer. But i do have temperature control in a keezer for my primary and secondary. The yeast said its good at 51-75* F. Should i just aim for the low end of that scale for primary, And then lager as usual at ~35 for a few weeks in secondary?

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for me I would say it depends on the flavor you are going for. If you want a cleaner beer then shoot for the low side. If you want a more fruity beer than shoot for the high side

Its could you have a temp controller but where did you get the idea to lager and Ale? If you are bottling then don't do it - if you are kegging then after fermentation is 100% complete then you can cold crash you carboys for a week to get the yeast to settle out

Ales don't benefit from lagering - they yeast just goes dormant and falls out

It is a lager, And i do keg. As i understood it the cold cycles are also to reduce the "buttery" taste?

Elfmaze said:

As i understood it the cold cycles are also to reduce the "buttery" taste?

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You're thinking of a diacetyl rest... and that is actually warming up the temperature towards the end of primary fermentation activity (not after).

Since it is intended to be a true lager, I'd ferment that at or below the low end of the range. 50°F would work just fine. Start it out that way too... don't start it warm and wait to see fermentation activity and then cool it down. IOW, rehydrate the yeast per instructions, equilibriate the yeast slurry temp to the wort temp (both around 50°F), then pitch. Also, use 2 packs of yeast per ~5 gallons.

I have a yeast 2000ml yeast starter rolling already to take care of the low cell count. But i was wondering about matching the temperatures of the starter after decanting it.

Elfmaze said:

But i was wondering about matching the temperatures of the starter after decanting it.

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You want the yeast to be close in temp to the wort upon pitching, so they aren't shocked. Up to about 10°F difference is OK.