Fermenting lager in cold basement?

[klinus]

Hi all!

Im kind of new to this, only been doing a bunch of small 5 liter batches, and that's basically what I can fit in my small apartment.
But a week ago, I checked the temperature in the basement of my building (where I have a small storage space) and every time I've checked it, it's been between 12C (54F) and 14C (57F). So, i thought that it would be perfect for doing a bigger batch of lager and ferment it there!

I've been looking at recipes for different lagers (I don't need anything too complicated, Im still a noob) and theres a lot of different fermenting and storing times, (some say 3-6 months?). My question is, how long should it be in lager fermenting temperature before it's ready to drink?

Since I can't control the temperature, I suspect that in a couple of months or so, the spring will be here and it will probably get warmer. Is there some beer I can brew that like it cold, but wont fail completely if it rises up towards regular ale temperatures?

I found a 30 liter (8 gallon) glas fermenter that I thought I could use, if not, I'll probably do it in 10 liter (~3gal) plastic buckets.

 

[Ianflean]

In the same boat.

I lagered my pilsner last week in my cellar (pretty solid 10C), will give it 6 weeks I think then bottle it.

 

[chickypad]

Since I can't control the temperature, I suspect that in a couple of months or so, the spring will be here and it will probably get warmer. Is there some beer I can brew that like it cold, but wont fail completely if it rises up towards regular ale temperatures?

Raising the temp at the very end of fermentation would be okay for just about everything including lagers (i.e. diacetyl rest). Fluctuating up and down too much during active fermentation though is not good. You may want to look into at least a swamp cooler or other inexpensive option to keep the temperatures more steady during that time, regardless of what you are brewing. 57 ambient may be a little on the warm side for a lot of lager yeasts.

As far as your schedule, a typical one would be to ferment in the low 50's until the bulk of fermentation is finished, perform a diacetyl rest at low ale temps for about 48hrs, then lager in the 30's for a period of time. I tend to lager about 2 months for average gravity lagers before tapping, I think a lot of folks use the rule of 1 week for every 10 gravity pts of OG. If you can't lager in bulk you can do it in the bottle, I've just not done it that way. I think folks that do will let it carb first then lager for an extended time in the fridge.

Edit: I just noticed your comment about the fermenters. Lagering a beer is probably the one situation in which I would use a secondary carboy if I wasn't already kegging. You don't want too much headspace for aging a beer that way, so the big carboy and the buckets may not be the best option. If you don't have a carboy closer to your batch size you might want to do the lagering in the bottle after all.