What exactly is a pseudo Lager and pseudo Lager yeast?

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tenchu_11

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Its summer and i'm doing research before i try and brew my first lager at ale temps and I see that those two terms being thrown around very losely. Pseudo lagers and yeast..can some one give me examples of each. Obviously Pseudo means to be false..but why call something a false lager or false lager yeast. Please expand on this thank you.
 
Never heard of it. Maybe it emulates the affect of lagering, but at a higher temp?
 
So I inspired myself to look into it. Grammar that is. Not yeast. It appears I indeed got it dead wrong.
 
I've never heard the term "pseudo lager", but there are a couple of "hybrid" styles out there.

One is a steam beer, which uses a special lager yeast that ferments at ale temps.

The other is the Kolsh style, which uses a special ale yeast that ferments at lager temps.
 
What yeast strain would be good for steam beer. I've tried to make a pilsener with WP 029 with good effects didn't even know Pils are lagers until now.
 
What yeast strain would be good for steam beer. I've tried to make a pilsener with WP 029 with good effects didn't even know Pils where lagers until now.


WLP810 - San Francisco Lager

or

Wyeast 2112 - California Lager Yeast

edit: these still want to be cooler than 70*F according to the specs. Looks like 65*F(ish) is the top of the ideal range.
 
So i could make a Vienna Lager (or any random lager) with either of those strains above and should perform decently at 65F. Or I guess the WLP 029 Kolsch would be another strain to use.
 
So i could make a Vienna Lager (or any random lager) with either of those strains above and should perform decently at 65F. Or I guess the WLP 029 Kolsch would be another strain to use.

Have you ever had Anchor Steam Beer? That uses that San Francisco Lager strain. If you have had it, you'll notice that it's slightly different than your typical lager, so if you go into it expecting results exactly the same as commercial examples you've tried you may be a bit disappointed. However, using one of the California lager strains walker mentioned will get you very close (IMO) and nothing else short of temperature control and the proper yeast strain would get you closer.

A Kolsch yeast will be better than any other ale yeast, but to my tastes you can definitely tell it's an ale. If you can keep your temps around 65 the San Francisco/California Lager strain is the way to go IMO.
 
You could make any lager recipe using an ale yeast at ale temperatures. It will not taste like a Vienna lager made with lager yeast at lager yeast temperatures. Many have had varying success at making "psuedo-lagers" using the above strains at the cooler end of their preferred temperatures. Another strain to consider is the Cal ale yeast (wyeast 1056) again using the cool end of its range as it is a very clean yeast that imparts little ester flavour to beer brewed with it. Regardless of what you use you will make drinkable beer - just don't expect it to taste like a well brewed Vienna lager using an appropriate lager yeast strain.

GT
 
Kolsch and Alt beers could be considered pseudo-lagers. They ferment above the lager range (low 60s to high 50s) and then typically require a 'lagering' period where they are stored for a period in the low 40's to clean up the beer / clarify it (2-4 weeks typ.). You can use a variety of top fermenting ale strains to create these beers so long as they are clean, well attenuating, and tolerant at the lower temps. Some examples of these yeasts are the Kolsch strain, German Ale, Pacman, or even the Chico strain. It gives the beer a very clean lager-like profile without the traditional practices of a true lager.
 
I would attribute the use of the term as either an Ale yeast at the very bottom end of it's fermentation range or a lager yeast at the very top end of it's range.
 
NB has a pseudo lager in their special limited edition Northern German collection. I believe it means that it tastes like a lager, but you ferment at ale temperatures.
 
as for the term P-lager, I think that any beer using an ale yeast but designed to emulate either a particular lager style (such as pilsner) or minimize the effects of the ale yeast could be called Pseudo....I would call many blonde or summer ales that utilize neutral yeasts and other ingredients and processes (lowered ferm temp, lagering, filtering, beano, adding corn or rice adjuncts, whatever, etc.) to get a thirst quenching or drier beer a P-lager.

I would call any neutral ale yeast or those that work at lower temps pseudo lager yeasts, but I don't think I would call Alt or Kolsch Pseudo Lagers, as they are already classified as German Ales (or Old as in Alt Style).

I would call Anchor a Pseudo Ale....being a lager brewed at ale temps...but I like the term Steam or alternately California Common (back to designating where the practice was common).

Short answer, in my opinion: Pseudo Lagers=Summer Ales
 
HopTech in Dublin, CA, has a kit called LagerAlike. I think BetterBrewer is the manufacturer. I've brewed 15 gallons and my friends say it is very close to the big commercial American lagers they are used to drinking. I brewed one batch with primary fermentation in the mid-70s. I don't know if the yeast is California Anchor Steam or not.
 
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