Does lager recipe for non-lager work?

[Cro Magnon]

I don't have the equipment to lager or cold ferment. I was wondering if I just used pilsner malt (maaaybe add a bit off crystal), and a pinch of saaz, and use an ale yeast like s-04 and ferment at 18 - 22C, what will I end up with?

 

[AzOr]

I think you’d end up with a tasty beer nonetheless.
IME lager yeast will take the fg a couple points lower but if you’re not happy with outcome you can play with some of the brewing enzymes to lower your fg even more than ale yeast can.
I’ve heard people say that notty yeast at the lower end of temps can produce a really clean beer.

 

[AzOr]

Also search some of the warm fermented lager threads on this forum.

 

[jrgtr42]

I've done this with a couple beers. Last one was a Schwarzbier recipe, I don't have the facilities for lagering, so I used German Ale yeast (Imperial Yeast's G03 Dieter.) It's officially a Kolsch yeast, so I figured it would work well and it did - really tasty beer.

 

[Dland]

I agree, the beer should be fine. If you can keep it around 18C, US-05 would be a good choice too. If you want it to have even more lager like finish, after it is carbed, cold crash and let it sit for a couple of weeks at around freezing, 0C, 32F.

 

[BrewAgain]

If you can get some Omega lutra kveik, it ferments very clean when at the low temp end. I used it as a fake Mexican lager. Came out clean. It was a slow ferment but is a crowd pleaser.

 

[Cro Magnon]

I think you’d end up with a tasty beer nonetheless.
IME lager yeast will take the fg a couple points lower but if you’re not happy with outcome you can play with some of the brewing enzymes to lower your fg even more than ale yeast can.
I’ve heard people say that notty yeast at the lower end of temps can produce a really clean beer.

Hmmm interesting...thanks for the tip about enzymes. I might just try it as an experiment to see if it's a drinkable beer. I've checked out some of the warm ferment threads but thing is...a lot of them end up lagering anyway. If I could skip that process altogether it would be gold.

 

[wepeeler]

Check out Imperial Dieter yeast. You can ferment at ale temps (62-65F) and get a very clean, crisp beer. I've used it numerous times for my Kolsch and it's AMAZING.

 

[jrgtr42]

Check out Imperial Dieter yeast. You can ferment at ale temps (62-65F) and get a very clean, crisp beer. I've used it numerous times for my Kolsch and it's AMAZING.

I used that for my Schwartzbier and it came out great.

 

[Cro Magnon]

Check out Imperial Dieter yeast. You can ferment at ale temps (62-65F) and get a very clean, crisp beer. I've used it numerous times for my Kolsch and it's AMAZING.

Great thanks for the suggestion...turns out we don't get it here... Anyway commonly available substitute?

 

[GrogNerd]

Devils Backbone Brewing in Nelson County, VA uses pilsner as a base for ALL their beer.

their award-winning Vienna Lager is top-notch & their 8-point IPA is one of my first favorite IPAs

 

[tieflyer]

How about cry havoc Charlie pap..... u know who used it in his recipes.

 

[tieflyer]

it is now called WLP1983 Charlie's Fist Bump Yeast
Charlie Papazian uses it in his books "The Complete Joy of Homebrewing," "The Homebrewer’s Companion," and "Microbrewed Adventures"

 

[Cro Magnon]

Devils Backbone Brewing in Nelson County, VA uses pilsner as a base for ALL their beer.

their award-winning Vienna Lager is top-notch & their 8-point IPA is one of my first favorite IPAs

woh.....gotta check them out!

 

[Cro Magnon]

it is now called WLP1983 Charlie's Fist Bump Yeast
Charlie Papazian uses it in his books "The Complete Joy of Homebrewing," "The Homebrewer’s Companion," and "Microbrewed Adventures"

Gotta check this out too! Still haven't read it! Don't get WLP here either

 

[Grand Lake Brewer]

I don't have the equipment to lager or cold ferment. I was wondering if I just used pilsner malt (maaaybe add a bit off crystal), and a pinch of saaz, and use an ale yeast like s-04 and ferment at 18 - 22C, what will I end up with?

I ferment German Pilsners at these temps using Saflager W-34/70 with great results consistently. I do cold crash for about 3 to 4 days before I transfer to serving keg. I'll probably catch some grief for this but check out Brulosophy.com, they have done many (exbeeriments) using lager yeast at warmer temps. I've improve the quality of my beer 10 fold following some of their results.

 

[Beermeister32]

It will work just make sure to do a 90 minute boil if using pilsner malt.

 

[wepeeler]

Great thanks for the suggestion...turns out we don't get it here... Anyway commonly available substitute?

I've used wyeast 2565 for the Kolsch, but I was not nearly as happy. You can still ferment it cold, and people love it. Clean, no diacetyl.

 

[Cro Magnon]

@Grand Lake Brewer You mean you regularly make lagers just brewing them like a normal ale? I guess I could manage a cold crash with an ice bath....if I can avoid the long drawn out lagering process then this sounds awesome....I can pretty much make lagers without a dedicated fridge. Will defo check out the brulosophy exbeeriments. Thanks!

@Beermeister32 Thanks for the tip! Didn't know this....any reason for the 90 min boil for pilsner?

@wepeeler Unfortunately don't get wyeast either. Only fermentis strains....thanks though...interesting point to note for kolschs..

 

[Beermeister32]

SMM / DMS precursor reduction, so your beer doesn't take on that cabbage soup taste...

 

[Cro Magnon]

SMM / DMS precursor reduction, so your beer doesn't take on that cabbage soup taste...

Ahh got it. I was wondering....can I do the lagering in the bottles? i.e. basically treat the bottle conditioning as lagering, after adding the priming? So basiscally, ferment at 18C, bottle with priming, and then put in the fridge for 30 days or more. Or is this not the same? What different effect will this have or not have that lagering will?

 

[Beermeister32]

Always better to lager in a keg. I like 3 months before bottling, but you can lager in bottles after several weeks carbing. Put them away for a few months at 34F and go brew another batch to get your mind off of them. Build your pipeline!

 

[Cro Magnon]

Always better to lager in a keg. I like 3 months before bottling, but you can lager in bottles after several weeks carbing. Put them away for a few months at 34F and go brew another batch to get your mind off of them. Build your pipeline!

That's great to know, thanks for the info! Def gonna try it....Gonna go build that pipeline now

 

[GBRbrew]

I just brewed up an oktoberfest last weekend, I can't lager so i used us-05 because it a pretty clean yeast, fermenting at 66 we'll see how it turns out

 

[Cro Magnon]

I just brewed up an oktoberfest last weekend, I can't lager so i used us-05 because it a pretty clean yeast, fermenting at 66 we'll see how it turns out

Wow...I' dying to know how it turns out... Post your results here when it is!

 

[Beermeister32]

Aletoberfest...!

 

[Cro Magnon]

Aletoberfest...!

Glad you didn't say 'oktoberfale'!

 

[Immocles]

+1 to bottle lagering. I do it pretty often.

 

[GBRbrew]

Wow...I' dying to know how it turns out... Post your results here when it is!

Will do, it'll be at least a month but I'll post how it turns out.

 

[Cro Magnon]

+1 to bottle lagering. I do it pretty often.

Would love to know more about your process!