Fermenting fresh brewery yeast at higher temps

[XIL_Brew]

Hey guys,

Sorry if there is a thread on this somewhere else - I did search (promise!) but couldn't find anything like this...

Basically, I'm in a very fortunate situation that I can get hold of fresh yeast from the Budweiser Budvar brewery - but, I'm guessing that this is bottom fermenting, and my current fermenting temperature is between 18-21C.

I've seen that some people have had good to decent results of fermenting lager yeasts at higher temperatures, but I was wondering if using a high quality fresh yeast would make any difference?

Cheers!

 

[ReverseApacheMaster]

I don't see how it would make a difference. If the yeast works well at higher temperatures it will work well at those temperatures whether it is fresh from the brewery or a few weeks old.

 

[Panduh]

I've read in books that it's an old practice to use lager yeast at ale fermenting temps. Anchor steam boat brewery is known for bringing this "style" back.

 

[daksin]

There are very few strains of lager yeast (bottom fermenting, colloquially) that will work well at ale (top fermenting) temperatures. As far as I know only the hybrid strains (from cologne/kolne/kolsch) and the steam beer yeasts (california lager/san francisco lager) will do this properly without massive horrible byproducts. I would wait until you have your fermentation temperatures under control to use this very prestigious crop of yeast. Congratulations!

 

[XIL_Brew]

Thanks for the replies guys!

The brewery are keen on helping people make their own brews, so shouldn't be a problem to get enough of it - which means I'll probably give it a try on higher temps first, and when the weather changes I'll do a "proper" one...

Will let you know how it goes!

 

[beerandloathinginaustin]

Get a used freezer and a temp controller if you want to make lagers. I've been a room temp/swamp cooler guy for 2 years now, but (at least in America) $100 for a freezer on Craigslist & $70 for the Johnson temp controller make it worthwhile even if you don't brew that frequently. I don't know why I haven't done it sooner.

Another idea would be seeing if they wouldn't mind storing your bucket/carboy cool for you. If they really want to help local brewers, they may be open to finding some space or even designating space specifically for that purpose. Never hurts to ask.