American Pilsner - garage temps may hit 50's - problem?

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callmebruce

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I'm brewing an American Pilsner in my garage. I have a hot water heater room with hvac ducted in. It does not stay the same temps as the house (due to ventilation), but it kept around 50-55 when I brewed my American Pilsner for the first 14 days.

The hot water heater room vents into the garage, and garage temps have been right at 40. However, outside temps will hit 50's over the weekend, so garage will be in mid 50's, possibly even close to 60.

That is way too warm for lagering a Pilsner. But I thought in reading about California Steam beers, that they use bottom fermenting yeasts at higher temps. If it warms up to the 50's, will my Pilsner be okay? Or will get odd flavors? Do I need to try to keep it cool? Or just say the heck with it and call it a Steam beer?
 
14 days at 50-55F is perfect. A few more at 60-68F is great because you can get the diacetyl rest done in those days.

I don't know what you are talking about with 40F though- did your beer ferment at 40 or 50 for two weeks? If 50, then after a few days of 60-68F'ish for D rest, then you can rack to another container and lager. Do you have any places that get down to the 30's for lagering?
 
My room off the garage is 50-55. I did 14 days there.

My garage is hovering right at 40. I figured I'd transfer out of the fermentation bucket and into a better bottle and do 4 to 6 weeks in the garage at 40. I've got foam around the bottle to help keep temps even (two foam camping pads - figured they'd keep light off the beer and keep it insulated a bit).

I was hoping for 4 to 6 weeks of 40 or less - but looks like it's going to warm up for a bit. Not sure what I should do to get the temps down. Or just say the heck with it and call it Steam beer.
 
I'm way overthinking this. I'll pick up a bucket my better bottle can fit in, and ice it down a few degrees when the weather warms up. This should not be an issue at all. I should be able to keep the pilsner in the 30's with no problem at all.
 
I had to google diacytel rest! I hadn't heard of it before - just thought I should do 14 days at 50-55, then four to six weeks in the 30's. Think I'll need to pick up another brewing book and do some more reading.

Anyway, thanks. I learned something (diacytel rest) and figured something out (shouldn't be too difficult to keep lager cold in January and February, even in Georgia!).
 
I actually had a question along the same lines of thought. My amber ale has been upstairs holding steady at 68 F for a week now, still in primary. Would it be advantageous to move it to the garage at about the 40s F for a week more before bottling?
 
I actually had a question along the same lines of thought. My amber ale has been upstairs holding steady at 68 F for a week now, still in primary. Would it be advantageous to move it to the garage at about the 40s F for a week more before bottling?

It's called cold crashing. It will help clear your beer. I do it nearly every brew.
 
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