Accidental Lager, HELP

[sabresword00]

I went to brew my first batch of extract beer, and just picked a flavor i thought that was seasonal and my girlfriend would enjoy. I picked German Octoberfest, not knowing that according to the instructions, it was a DIFFICULT level brew. I really only planned to do one fermentation (since I read here that was all most beers needed) but now the directions say you need to "lager" the beer in a secondary fermentation and lower the temperature every day. Is it possible to do this in one fermentation period? How long? Should I scrap the whole batch?

 

[hunter_le five]

You could substitute the lager yeast that came with it for a clean-fermenting ale yeast and ferment it as you would an ale. It won't taste exactly the same, but it will still be pretty good.

 

[myndflyte]

Just buy a packet of US-05 or something and use that yeast. Follow the instructions on that yeast for fermentation temps and you will only really need to use a primary fermentation.

 

[GrogNerd]

lager in the bottle

 

[hunter_le five]

lager in the bottle

Normally that would be an option, but I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that he's not set-up for cold-fermenting at proper lager temps judging from the OP. Either way it sounds like an ale yeast is in order.

 

[feinbera]

Yeah... pick up a sachet of US-05, ferment at 65° or so, then let it sit a couple weeks while the yeast drops outta suspension (keeping the beer cool helps at this stage, but exact steps down to lagering temps aren't needed). You won't get points for authenticity, but you will get a tasty and very-Oktoberfest-like ale.