Adirondack Lager clone?

Hey guys

I've been having trouble with fermenting temperatures here in NC. It's been pretty hot for this early in the year. I'm pretty sure I've just ruined five gallons of pale ale because of the heat. (It was my first all grain and it tasted great prior to pitching the yeast.)

I have access to a fridge that gets used very little. I've been playing around with the temp controller on the fridge and I can maintain temps inside around 50 Deg. or less. (Which, I'm assuming is too cool for an ale.) That's got me thinking about a lager.

I'm pretty new to home brewing and I've never tried a lager before. I saw a kit on Austin home brew's website for a clone of Saranac's Adirondack amber lager.

http://www.austinhomebrew.com/product_info.php?cPath=178_452_43_245&products_id=2113

I love this beer. Does anyone have any experience with this kit? If so how did it come out? Also, they come in extract, pm, and all grain. Which one would you recommend? Last question: Is there anything different about brewing procedures for lagers (as opposed to ales) other than fermentation temps.?

Thanks in advance,

Kornbread

Lagers can be a little tricky, and I don't make them.
Have you looked at making a swamp cooler? It does not control the temp, but it helps and is easy to set up.
Also, at 50F you could find yeast that does well at 60F and let fermentation kick off and put it in. There is usually a 5 to 10 degree difference between the air and active fermentation.
You could also see if you can ID the temp sensor on the fridge and see if you can blow a small computer fan on it, set some ice up against it. I don't know, anything to keep your yeast nice and happy so the beer can make you happy.
There is also sasons, wheat beers that can deal with higher fermentations.

you could definitely do some lagers at 50°F

Adirondack Lager is probably one of my favorite lagers, it's great stuff.

I don't have a fridge, so I've not made any lagers myself, but I believe the actual brewing process is the same, but you have to decide whether or not to pitch the yeast cold or warm, and whether or not to do a diacetyl rest.

I find lagers intimidating