Zwerg
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- Sep 11, 2021
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I am a relatively new homebrewer, brewing extract without temperature controls (all-grain and a chest freezer are planned future investments, but working for now with what I have).
I love lagers, and recently brewed a nice altbier-ish beer using WLP029 (White Labs Kölsch/German Ale yeast) which I think had some nice lager-ish smoothness. The ambient temperature was probably in the mid- to high 60s during fermentation.
Two days ago I brewed a similar recipe with the same yeast, but here in the San Francisco area we are in the middle of a cold snap and the ambient temp. in the closet where my carboy sits is now in the mid-50s and I don't expect the temperature to increase much over the next week or two. It's been about 40 hours and I'm seeing the beginnings of fermentation, but it's very slow.
I've done some research on here and I read that this yeast can sometimes stall if it gets much below 58 degrees.
What do you guys think? Should I:
1) Buy some lager yeast and make a starter, and pitch that in the next couple of days (given that I expect the temps to stay within lager range)? I have never repitched a second yeast after fermentation has begun, much less pitching a lager yeast on top of an ale yeast. Any downsides, here? I don't have a way to cold-condition the beer after fermentation, except in the fridge after bottling - could I still produce a good beer this way?
2) Just give the kölsch yeast some time to do its work and hope for the best?
3) Unknown third option?
Thanks!
I love lagers, and recently brewed a nice altbier-ish beer using WLP029 (White Labs Kölsch/German Ale yeast) which I think had some nice lager-ish smoothness. The ambient temperature was probably in the mid- to high 60s during fermentation.
Two days ago I brewed a similar recipe with the same yeast, but here in the San Francisco area we are in the middle of a cold snap and the ambient temp. in the closet where my carboy sits is now in the mid-50s and I don't expect the temperature to increase much over the next week or two. It's been about 40 hours and I'm seeing the beginnings of fermentation, but it's very slow.
I've done some research on here and I read that this yeast can sometimes stall if it gets much below 58 degrees.
What do you guys think? Should I:
1) Buy some lager yeast and make a starter, and pitch that in the next couple of days (given that I expect the temps to stay within lager range)? I have never repitched a second yeast after fermentation has begun, much less pitching a lager yeast on top of an ale yeast. Any downsides, here? I don't have a way to cold-condition the beer after fermentation, except in the fridge after bottling - could I still produce a good beer this way?
2) Just give the kölsch yeast some time to do its work and hope for the best?
3) Unknown third option?
Thanks!