Lager Question

hey,

I just got a copy of Papazian's Joy of Home Brewing and on page 36 (third edition), he mentions brewing with lager yeasts at room temperature. So my question is what is the difference between a lager that is brewed at colder temperatures and one that is brewed at room temperature?

Thanks a lot.

AFAIK a lager brewed at room temp is not a lager, it is a steam beer. If you have to do a lager at room temperature, go to the white labs or yyeast website and look at their lager yeasts. There are some that will ferment at high temps. Well, they "all" will ferment, but there are some that have recommended high temps in the mid 60's.

http://www.whitelabs.com/beer/homebrew_strains.html

WLP810 San Francisco Lager Yeast
This yeast is used to produce the "California Common" style beer. A unique lager strain which has the ability to ferment up to 65 degrees while retaining lager characteristics. Can also be fermented down to 50 degrees for production of marzens, pilsners and other style lagers.
Attenuation: 65-70%
Flocculation: High
Optimum Fermentation Temperature: 58-65°F
Alcohol Tolerance: Medium-High

Mike-H said:

AFAIK a lager brewed at room temp is not a lager, it is a steam beer. If you have to do a lager at room temperature, go to the white labs or yyeast website and look at their lager yeasts. There are some that will ferment at high temps. Well, they "all" will ferment, but there are some that have recommended high temps in the mid 60's.

Click to expand...

Bingo!

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There are a few lager yeasts that can ferment at room temperature (max. 65F). Wyeast 2112 California Lager Yeast & WLP810 San Francisco Lager Yeast are two. They have distinct characteristics: moderate attenuation, malty finishes, high flocculation. Most lager yeasts have higher attenuation and ferment drier with less of a malty finish.

As far as using the same lager yeast at different temperatures, much the same as ale yeasts: lower temperatures mean a cleaner ferment with fewer esters.

Not sure if this is what he is discussing in the book, but Papazian basically uses one strain of yeast that he has had for like 20 years or something in all of his brews. It behaves like a lager at lager (~sub 60's) and like an ale at higher temps. Kind of interesting, and if I recall correctly Wyeast even cultured it. For the most part, I believe if the yeast can comfortably handle the higher temperatures you can get a sucessful brew. Problem is if you stretch a strain that is well adapted to the lower temperatures it may not make it, or will do a poor job of fermenting your wort. Here is some brain food though...suppose you take one and harvest it over many generations, and with each generation raising the fermentation temperature by say 2 to 3 degrees? (This is how you can develop a unique strain, well one of the ways anyhow, if you can get it to work...which you should I am guessing...yeast is very adaptable).