Can I brew lagers?

[tennesseean_87]

I think that with my ferm chamber and enough ice changes, I'll be able to keep fermentations in the mid 50's this winter. I probably won't be able to get down to 40 for lagering, though. I'm wondering if it's worth it to pick up a lager strain and go for a beer or two, or if I should stick to clean ales and faux-lagers with Notty in the upper 50s. If I should go for it, is W-34/70 a good, versatile yeast to start with?

 

[osagedr]

I would use S-23 to ferment lagers if the lowest you can go is mid-50s. It's reasonably versatile in terms of style.

 

[Bensiff]

34/70 is an awesome yeast and does great in the low 50's...advertised as 50-55 range

 

[jtejedor]

I might be understanding your question wrong but many lager strains do well in the low to mid fifties. If you are referring to the lagering phase you can lager in keg or bottles too. I hear differing opinions on lagering on the yeast versus racking off of it. I have only done a couple of lagers really but I usually crash cool and try to rack off as clean of a beer as possible and the lager in the kegs for a month or two. So as long as you could leave your keg or bottles in the fridge for a month or two I think you should get good results.

 

[tennesseean_87]

The thing is, I don't keg and don't have room in the small fridge in our apartment for all that beer. So it would have to be fermentation, then warm conditioning afterward. Is it still worth it?

 

[Yooper]

The thing is, I don't keg and don't have room in the small fridge in our apartment for all that beer. So it would have to be fermentation, then warm conditioning afterward. Is it still worth it?

Well, it won't have the distinctive "crisp" finish that distinguishes a lager. The other thing lagering does is drop polyphenols and such, so that the taste is smoother.

Could you try lagering in the bottles after it's carbed up?

 

[pdxal]

If you're limited in fridge space you might have to do as Yooper suggests, and lager several bottles at a time in the back of your fridge. Wouldn't be perfect, but would work.

 

[tennesseean_87]

It would have to be six at a time at the most. I'm not sure it would be worth the hassle, so I may stick to ales for the time being.

 

[VonRunkel]

unconventional, and possibly disastrous idea, but what if you bottled it and put it in your trunk. Assuming you dont need it all that often, and that it doesn't get subzero, you could* lager that way.

Just thinking outside the box.

 

[tennesseean_87]

I was thinking about that. Depending on what the weather is doing, maybe taking it outside during the day and in the basement at night if it's sub-freezing.

More on the theory of this issue:

Well, it won't have the distinctive "crisp" finish that distinguishes a lager. The other thing lagering does is drop polyphenols and such, so that the taste is smoother.

Does the distinct lager profile come more from the colder fermentation or the colder conditioning? I was under the impression it had a whole lot to do with the fermentation, but I haven't done much reading on lagering because I considered it out of reach (this hobby is quickly becoming much more complex than originally intended). From Yooper's comment above it seems I was wrong. How does fermenting at ale temps then long-term cold conditioning turn out? Would it be more lager-like than cold fermentation and no lager stage?

 

[IkeKrizzule]

I've been thinking about trying a lager this winter. Don't have a fermentation fridge, but my basement stays pretty cool even in summer, so I think in winter I'd be able to ferment it in the low 50's using a swamp cooler. Don't have a way to lager in the carboy, but can make a bunch of space in the fridge(single guy, able to keep beer as a top priority). Can someone let me know if I have this right, though, don't want to make a mistake.

So I ferment in the low 50's. When its close to done I want to bring it back up to 70 for a D (forget the exact word) rest for a few days. After that do I bring temps back down? Then I can bottle, condition at room temperature (?) for 2-3 weeks. Once that's done stick the whole batch in the fridge for 1-2 months and I'm good?