Brewing question on ale vs. lager yeast.

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brewd00d

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Sup dudes?

What i would like to ask everyone is if i take the same exact recipe (doing a light beer - rice syrup solids and extra light DME) and made one with a American lager yeast and one with an American ale yeast, how would they differ? Im wondering mainly for over all taste.

Im guess the color would stay the same, but even if the same types of hops are used would the different yeasts create different hop characteristic as fas as bitterness. Would, lets say for example, the the beer with the ale yeast taste a little more bitter as opposed to the one use with the lager yeast?

Whats the delio guys?
 
Well, all other things being equal, the lager beer will taste "cleaner" and crisper without the fruity esters and other flavors found in ales. It might be very subtle- for example nottingham fermented at 60 degrees will still be pretty darn "clean" and almost lagerlike. But if you used an English ale strain and fermented it at 70 degrees, it would be a far different beer than a lager strain fermented at 48 degrees!

Some Russian Imperial Stouts use lager yeast, just for that reason.
 
well I figure that the ale yeast would cause more esters to mask the flavors and aroma of the hops, but I'm not so sure about the bitterness. The iso alpha acids are in the beer and the only thing that I can think of to down play the bitterness would be maltiness, through the additions of more grain or DME. It'd be a good experiment. Split a 5 gal batch of wort up and give'r a try.
 
well I figure that the ale yeast would cause more esters to mask the flavors and aroma of the hops, but I'm not so sure about the bitterness. The iso alpha acids are in the beer and the only thing that I can think of to down play the bitterness would be maltiness, through the additions of more grain or DME. It'd be a good experiment. Split a 5 gal batch of wort up and give'r a try.

Lol. If I only had the equipment. Well maybe ill do it as a lager instead of an ale. Im trying to make a BMC clone. An I have a ale yeast but now that you guys say my beer could potentially tast better, I'm considering gettin a lager yeast. It seems logical since those commercial light beers are lagers anyway.
 
I think it would depend totally on how you fermented it. Making a lager is different than making an ale, beyond the strain of yeast. If you put the ale yeast in and ferment at 72 deg., it will taste different than if you put the lager yeast in and ferment at 48 deg., then lager for 3 months at 38 deg. But if you put the lager yeast in and ferment at 72 deg. that would also taste different. Putting an ale yeast in at 48 deg. would also taste different.

However, I would think that if you took a cold tolerant American yeast like WY1056 and fermented that at 55-60 deg. and compared that to the same beer fermented at 55-60 with WY2124, there would not be a lot of difference. I think Charlie Papazian claims he uses the same ale yeast for lagers and ales with no problems.
 
I think it would depend totally on how you fermented it. Making a lager is different than making an ale, beyond the strain of yeast. If you put the ale yeast in and ferment at 72 deg., it will taste different than if you put the lager yeast in and ferment at 48 deg., then lager for 3 months at 38 deg. But if you put the lager yeast in and ferment at 72 deg. that would also taste different. Putting an ale yeast in at 48 deg. would also taste different.

However, I would think that if you took a cold tolerant American yeast like WY1056 and fermented that at 55-60 deg. and compared that to the same beer fermented at 55-60 with WY2124, there would not be a lot of difference. I think Charlie Papazian claims he uses the same ale yeast for lagers and ales with no problems.

Exactly! If you're going to use a lager yeast and want it to taste like BMC, you must make a big starter and ferment it at 48 degrees for about 2 weeks. After that, it should be racked to a carboy and then lagered. Ideally, it'd be lagered at 34 degrees (give or take a couple of degrees) for 6-8 weeks.

If you don't have the equipment to precisely hit those temperatures, I'd suggest doing it as an ale but using a super "clean" yeast strain and fermented at 60 degrees. The Wyeast 2124 probably wouldn't be my pick, unless you can really make a huge starter and then make sure it gets a diacetyl rest, I'd go with a dry yeast like nottingham. After it's fermented out, a couple of weeks of cold conditioning can help it take on more lager characteristics.
 
Exactly! If you're going to use a lager yeast and want it to taste like BMC, you must make a big starter and ferment it at 48 degrees for about 2 weeks. After that, it should be racked to a carboy and then lagered. Ideally, it'd be lagered at 34 degrees (give or take a couple of degrees) for 6-8 weeks.

If you don't have the equipment to precisely hit those temperatures, I'd suggest doing it as an ale but using a super "clean" yeast strain and fermented at 60 degrees. The Wyeast 2124 probably wouldn't be my pick, unless you can really make a huge starter and then make sure it gets a diacetyl rest, I'd go with a dry yeast like nottingham. After it's fermented out, a couple of weeks of cold conditioning can help it take on more lager characteristics.

When i said i didnt have the equipment, i meant i didnt have two carboys and two fermenters to do an ale beer and a lager beer at the same time.

Buts its settled now, i def. gonna buy some lager yeast instead. I knew about the temperature difference between the ale and lagers i was just talking about the taste, if you were ferment the beer in their respective temperatures. But, im gonna go for it. thank god for the kegerator.
 
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