Can you brew a light ale malt extract with a lager yeast?
- Thread starter RippinLt
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Well, if I interpret your question the way it seems to be written, I would have to say first that there are no ale malts or lager malts. Malt is malt. The difference between ale and lager is the strain of yeast.
Now to use use lager yeast at ale temps is the way a Steam beer is made.
You can use any ale recipe with lager yeast and any lager recipe with ale yeast. Won't be the same style, but will work. Usually though, you want to use lager yeast in the typical temperature range, otherwise they are really unpredictable in what flavors will be produced.
Now to use use lager yeast at ale temps is the way a Steam beer is made.
You can use any ale recipe with lager yeast and any lager recipe with ale yeast. Won't be the same style, but will work. Usually though, you want to use lager yeast in the typical temperature range, otherwise they are really unpredictable in what flavors will be produced.
The description of a malt extract is it's color.
The basis of a beer-lager or ale is it's yeast.
Rather than just dreaming up bizarre questions to post, try to enlighten yourself with the available online resources. Try starting here:
http://www.howtobrew.com/intro.html
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page
What I did not know was that malt is neither ale or lager. It makes sense now. I have a liquid malt extract and what I do with it will determine lager or ale...? It recommends california ale yeast. My question is: Is it not recommended that I use a lager yeast with this extract?
Excuse my rookie mentality. I have read tons and tons of intro to brewing literature but a few things slip by that strike me to be curious. Question solved. I hope.
Luckily this thread is titled beginner brewing.
Excuse my rookie mentality. I have read tons and tons of intro to brewing literature but a few things slip by that strike me to be curious. Question solved. I hope.
Luckily this thread is titled beginner brewing.
Your approach sounds to be working backwards.
You decide on a beer you want then you find the ingredients to make that recipe. If you want a light colored beer with no yeast character, then your ingredients are correct. You will select hops that are in style for that type of beer or are preferred by you for their flavor and aroma qualities. If you don't know much about ingredients themselves, definitely stay with a recipe and follow it exactly until you know how to change it and get what you anticipate from your changes.
Ingredient kits come in handy for those just starting out.
You decide on a beer you want then you find the ingredients to make that recipe. If you want a light colored beer with no yeast character, then your ingredients are correct. You will select hops that are in style for that type of beer or are preferred by you for their flavor and aroma qualities. If you don't know much about ingredients themselves, definitely stay with a recipe and follow it exactly until you know how to change it and get what you anticipate from your changes.
Ingredient kits come in handy for those just starting out.
I would like to try a lager due to my temperature conditions. It's easier for me to hold 45 degrees than 70 but I have an ale kit. It seems as if people say you should do an ale first for comfort but from what I gathered the temperature and timeline are the differences. If that really is the case I may become a lager brewer. Thanks for the input
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Pivovar_Koucky
Well-Known Member
It'll probably be fine, but it is very difficult for anyone to judge what the final product will taste like unless you tell us what the kit contains. Usually lagers have less hops than ales because there are no yeast flavors to balance (obviously there are exceptions to this over-generalization). Also 45 is a bit low to ferment lager, you will want to ferment as close to 50 as possible until you get your method down. If you then decide that you want your lagers to be even cleaner tasting you can drop the temperature from there.
Lagers are almost a completely different beast from ales, you really ought to get your ale brewing methods down before trying to make the leap to lager, and then only after reading as much as you can get your hands on about the process.
P.S. There is no need to ferment at 70, any ale yeast will ferment fine down to the high 50's. In fact, I prefer to ferment in the low 60's to supress esters.
welcome, thing about lager yeasts tho, that they are subtle and sneaky when fermenting and often do a rotten egg smell on you, which is normal (so dont keep your fermenter in bedroom!), you should stir it in when pitching as opposed to ale yeasts, good idea is to rehydrate yeast and after pitching some advice to keep wort somewhere around ~68 for first 8-10 hours and only then cool it.
what you can expect, is a longer fermentation period as opposed to ale yeast - 2 weeks minimum, maybe 3 so dont forget to take your gravity readings when your wort is ready and you wont see much foaming/bubbling or crust on your fermenter wall as lager yeast "eats it from the bottom"
please let us know how it turned out!
P.S.
lagers tend to condition for longer time periods. some might take as long as 3-4 months to become from golden sh**t to liquid gold (c) muddy waters
what you can expect, is a longer fermentation period as opposed to ale yeast - 2 weeks minimum, maybe 3 so dont forget to take your gravity readings when your wort is ready and you wont see much foaming/bubbling or crust on your fermenter wall as lager yeast "eats it from the bottom"
please let us know how it turned out!
P.S.
lagers tend to condition for longer time periods. some might take as long as 3-4 months to become from golden sh**t to liquid gold (c) muddy waters
I think that it cold be similar to steamed beer. Steamed beer is a lager that is grown ale temps. The result is a stronger flavor and fruity with some smoothness of a lager. Actually a light ale malt is pretty much the same as a light malt i think. So it will be just like a lager.
