California Common Question

Good evening all...

I have a kit on the way from Northern Brewer that will be a "Steam" beer. My questions is about the fermentation temp.

The yeast I will be using is Wyeast #2112 California Lager Yeast, and my basement is at about 57-59F all day. Will this be ideal?

Thanks!

From Wyeast's website:

2112 California Lager Yeast. Particularly suited for producing 19th century-style West Coast beers. Retains lager characteristics at temperatures up to 65° F, (18° C) and produces malty, brilliantly clear beers. Flocculation - high; apparent attenuation 67-71%. (58-68° F, 14-20° C)

so, yes, I'd say you'd be right in there. 57 would be a bit low, so maybe see what the temperature is right by your water heater and maybe that would be around 60 or so.

Lorena

Wrap a blanket around it and set it on a couple pieces of cardboard. That will hold in some of the fermentation heat.

You will be just fine. I would rather be a couple of degrees too cool than risk warming the carboy up by insulating it. You would be better off placing your carboy in a water bath so you don't get big temperature fluctuations. Fermentation will warm the beer up also.

I would worry more about pitching the proper amount of yeast and not rushing the beer into secondary.

FRom what I understand the colder the temp the more lager characteristics you will experience. A few degree flux will not harm the beer as long as you stay below 65* you should be fine.

Remember it is UP to 65* Lagers usually ferment between 45*-55*. You can even use 2112 for a regular lager if you had the right equipment.

- WW

david_42 said:

Wrap a blanket around it and set it on a couple pieces of cardboard. That will hold in some of the fermentation heat.

Click to expand...

David, you just reminded me of something. My Hefe in my basement workshop (64 degrees) is on day 7 of primary and looks to be doing nicely. I wrapped a blanket around the glass carboy to keep the flourescent lights off. Am I inadvertantly holding in heat that might be hurting (or helping) the process?

Kalvin

KE, I have found excessive fermentation temps to be kind of a slippery slope. Fermentation causes heat, and the higher temps cause a faster fermentation. I'd aim for an ambient temp on the lower end of the acceptable temp for your yeast, and expect the fermenting beer to add a couple extra degrees on by itself. I'd expect your hefe would do fine without the blanket temp-wise, but you may want to cover with something else less insulating to let the excess heat out. Of course, all the conjecture and advice in the world is no match for a thermometer on the side of your fermentation vessel.

I'm drinking a California Common right now that I fermented at 58-61*F. It turned out well (with the exception of being a little light on hop aroma and flavor). The fermentation went well and I got pretty good results with the WL #2112. I did make a starter which I pitched a few days ahead of time at that same temp. The yeast looked pretty healthy so after I racked my common off, I pitched an American brown onto the cake. We'll see how that turns out (I'd heard of people using that yeast for porters and so I thought a brown might be interesting too). The brown was fermented at the same temp and was so vigorous that it blew through the airlock while I was out of town! Guess I should have pulled some of the cake off before dropping the new batch in.

OK, looks like I will be fermenting at the low end of the range (58-59F). Now, the directions that came from Northern Brewer were not that great. It states two months until ready to drink but does not but that statement into context.

My assumption is one week in primary, two-three weeks in secondary, and the rest in a psedo-lager after bottled.

Input? Thanks!

I would let that primary go for 2 weeks. There isn't any need to rush the beer to the secondary. Especially at the low temperatures.

OK, brewed the Steam beer tonight. 3 gallon boil on a King Kooker.

6.6 lbs of Gold Malt
NB hops at 60/30/1

All went well except that my OG is 1.030...

I did 10 days in the primary and 10 in the secondary. Then about a week in the keg. Turned out pretty well from a fermentation perspective. My only complaint with my recipe is the relatively weak hop flavor and aroma. The bitterness is okay, but I should have tossed a little more hop in at knockout. Live and learn.

As for your OG, did you use liquid or dry extract? Either way you should have been around 1.045-10.60 depending on the variety.

As long as I have been a homebrewer I've been bad at recording OG/FG. This is the first time I've done it in ages.

Perhaps I have a bad hyrdometer? Do you measure after you have topped of to 5 gallons? Thats what I did.

By the way, I pitched last night and I now have active fermentaion at 59*F.

Yep, after, but make sure the wort and the water are well mixed before you sample. And there is a temperature correction if you're taking the sample while the wort is still warm.