Fermentation temp question re: going too low

I want to ferment a lager in the low 40s this way I can still serve out of the same chamber nice cold beer. S-23 says the temp range goes as low as 46. Is 4-6° lower going to really make much of a difference. I've made a ton of beers where I have fermented that much higher than the top end of the range and the beers have come up fine.

petep1980 said:

I want to ferment a lager in the low 40s this way I can still serve out of the same chamber nice cold beer. S-23 says the temp range goes as low as 46. Is 4-6° lower going to really make much of a difference. I've made a ton of beers where I have fermented that much higher than the top end of the range and the beers have come up fine.

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Going too low may simply cause the yeast to go dormant. You may be able to do it, if the fermentation is very vigorous and you used a great big starter, but normally you'd have a very real risk of the yeast just stopping their work and going to sleep.

I've never had much luck going more than a couple of degrees lower than the optimum temperature with ales (I've had Nottingham as low as 57) but if it's a super vigorous fermentation, it worked out. I've never attempted it with lagers, since I like them at 48-50 degrees as a rule.

I figure it'll probably be just easier to use one of those ale yeasts which works like a lager.

I've heard that the dried lager yeasts need to be a little bit higher & a D-Rest. you might be able to get away with doing that with a liquid strain from Wyeast or Whitelabs but I wouldn't test my luck on doing that with dried lager yeast. no matter what you do; pitch a ton of yeast....