Mexican Lager at Room Temp

[NewBrewer2025]

Hello,

So, I have seen some discussion on this matter, but figured I would post it here since "lagering" is still something so new to me, as I have never done it before.

I was thinking about making something similar to the Northern Brewer Altantico Mexican Lager: https://www.northernbrewer.com/products/atlantico-mexican-lager-all-grain-beer-recipe-kit

My "temp control" is fine... at higher temps. My issue is that I don't have an area much lower than 65ish degrees where it stays stable. I did see some people mention that they've used 34/70 at this temp without any issues, so I was thinking about giving it a shot.

But.. how will making this differ from a "regular" brew? Like my blonde ale I made is pretty straight forward. Fermented for 2 weeks, bottled for 2 weeks.. it was good to drink.

Does the lager have to ferment longer? Is some type of cold "lagering" absolutely necessary along the way? If I am going to bottle, what would be the "easiest" process here? I am a little confused about how this will differ from the other batches I've been doing that are pretty straight forward. I don't want to use a secondary unless it's absolutely necessary.

 

[tracer bullet]

I'd be interested to know more about this as well. I can get my setup into the high 50's but that's about all.

I've found that the Mexican yeast strains in particular (White Labs or Imperial, Wyeast doesn't seem to have one) are also important. To me they taste more like the real thing. By that I mean the lack of a peculiar character that I tend to dislike in many other lagers (Helles for example). 34/70 doesn't quite get me there.

Regarding time I do find that lagers benefit form sitting around a few weeks before drinking. More specifically they smooth out / taste cleaner / some adjectives like that. I typically keg them after 2-3 weeks, force carbonate, and then try and let them sit but never can. I start sipping on them after a few days and see how they sort of evolve. A lot of stuff that makes me like ales is more present the younger they are. That same stuff seems to need some time to actually go away for lagers to taste right. A month or so seems to be enough for me, after that if the keg is still around I don't detect them changing further.

 

[jdubdvdt]

Hello,

So, I have seen some discussion on this matter, but figured I would post it here since "lagering" is still something so new to me, as I have never done it before.

I was thinking about making something similar to the Northern Brewer Altantico Mexican Lager: https://www.northernbrewer.com/products/atlantico-mexican-lager-all-grain-beer-recipe-kit

My "temp control" is fine... at higher temps. My issue is that I don't have an area much lower than 65ish degrees where it stays stable. I did see some people mention that they've used 34/70 at this temp without any issues, so I was thinking about giving it a shot.

But.. how will making this differ from a "regular" brew? Like my blonde ale I made is pretty straight forward. Fermented for 2 weeks, bottled for 2 weeks.. it was good to drink.

Does the lager have to ferment longer? Is some type of cold "lagering" absolutely necessary along the way? If I am going to bottle, what would be the "easiest" process here? I am a little confused about how this will differ from the other batches I've been doing that are pretty straight forward. I don't want to use a secondary unless it's absolutely necessary.

I wouldn't worry about the idea of lagering.
Lagering is essentially cold storage practices specifically for lagers.

I would focus on your normal temp control for a lager. Lager yeasts typically prefer to be at the lower end of the spectrum to get the cleanest flavor profile. Brulosophy did an experiment where they fermented warm and cold for the mexican lager strain (wlp940) and it was statistically significant. They did not mention any major flavors at the temperature you're considering for fermentation so I would say give it a shot.

You can always put the fermenter in a bucket of water with some ice packs for the first few days and then let it rise up from 50 to 65 on day 3 or 4 when cell growth has already maximized. Pressure fermenting will also help if you have the ability to pressure ferment.

You don't need to lager. When I make lagers I typically just cold crash after fermentation, transfer into a keg, and let it sit in the fridge until I am ready to drink it. YMMV.

 

[fluketamer]

traditionally yes you have to ferment cold and lager it for several weeks at lager temps ( in a cave deep in Strasberg on the banks of the rheine - no less) .

or you can pressure ferment 34/70 warm at like 72 for about a week then add gelatin and have a pretty damn drinkable crisp beer in much less time.

or just use a pilsner grain bill with a very clean ale yeast like bry 97 ,or cellarscince cali. it will taste very close to a lager

 

[Yesfan]

I currently have the Atlantico in a fermenter now. I'll probably keg it this week. This is my second one with this recipe. The first recipe, I used WLP 940 and planned on pressure fermenting in my Fermzilla All Rounder. The All Rounder wouldn't hold pressure and the fermatation temps got up to 74F in my mid 60s basement. The beer still turned out alright.

This current batch, I used CS Baja yeast. I'm fermenting it in a Fermonster too. Probably not ideal considering what happened last time, but again the beer came out pretty good so I'm willing to take the chance.

 

[fluketamer]

I currently have the Atlantico in a fermenter now. I'll probably keg it this week. This is my second one with this recipe. The first recipe, I used WLP 940 and planned on pressure fermenting in my Fermzilla All Rounder. The All Rounder wouldn't hold pressure and the fermatation temps got up to 74F in my mid 60s basement. The beer still turned out alright.

This current batch, I used CS Baja yeast. I'm fermenting it in a Fermonster too. Probably not ideal considering what happened last time, but again the beer came out pretty good so I'm willing to take the chance.

i used to think my off flavors were from the yeast strain but it was my lack of temperature control that made my beer taste off. in any case i searched hi and lo for the cleanest tasting yeast out there. CS baja is so clean that it is tasteless IMO and most beers i have made with it benefitted from using a more "estery" yeast instead .

in any case cs baja is very very clean yeast.

 

[Ramjet]

I made that same recipe with nova lager yeast, probably fermented about 65 degrees it came out fine

 

[Yesfan]

I made that same recipe with nova lager yeast, probably fermented about 65 degrees it came out fine

I have some Novalager on hand. I may use it on a future batch, if the Atlantico comes out the way I want.

 

[Yesfan]

I currently have the Atlantico in a fermenter now. I'll probably keg it this week. This is my second one with this recipe. The first recipe, I used WLP 940 and planned on pressure fermenting in my Fermzilla All Rounder. The All Rounder wouldn't hold pressure and the fermatation temps got up to 74F in my mid 60s basement. The beer still turned out alright.

This current batch, I used CS Baja yeast. I'm fermenting it in a Fermonster too. Probably not ideal considering what happened last time, but again the beer came out pretty good so I'm willing to take the chance.

Thought I'd give an update. I had forgotten about this thread, so my apologies. This beer has been kegged for about a week or two (after sitting in the fermonster for so long), and needless to say I'm fairly happy with the results. Here's a comparison of the two.

Now, before you all start laughing........Yes, mine is on the left. Both glasses I failed to wipe the condensation on both glasses, but you can obviously can tell the difference between the two (yep, mine is the left). Wiping the glasses down, mine is clearish, but nothing like the original. I only used Whirlfloc and nothing else after fermentation for clarity.

This beer fermented at ale temps in a Fermonster (66-68F). Yeast was CS Baja. The last one I did with White Labs Mexican lager yeast (WLP940) fermented at the same temp after my All Rounder failed to hold pressure. For what I got, I am very pleased with this beer (drinking now as I post.....3rd glass). Mine seems to have better head retention, but compared to my other beers brewed, it fades fast.

Aroma wise, they seem similar. Taste wise, also similar but I think the Pacifico is a bit dryer, fizzyer, and more of a bite (in a good way) in taste. The pics might not reflect it, but I'm very happy how this turned out. If the Pacifico is a 10, then I think mine is about a 6.5 to 7.5. If it was just as clear, then it would be closer.

The takeaway is, yes fermentation temps are important. Also, maybe the Mexican lager strains are more forgiven than anticipated. This is the (more or less) same recipe with WLP-940 and CS Baja. My first attempt pressure fermenting with WLP-940 didn't go as planned, and that beer was still very drinkable. This one is even better I think with similar fermentation results.

 

[NewBrewer2025]

Forgot about this, but I have actually made a Helles and American light lager with pressure fermentation since this. Used 34/70 yeast on both. Ambient temp of ~64 for fermentation, and then ramped up to ~68-70 for a diacetyl rest once it had hit its FG.

I can’t speak to how they would have turned out without pressure fermenting, but they both turned out great with what I did. Helles has been kegged for a few weeks ago and looks and tastes great. I attached the file of that one.

The light lager is still in the fermenter, but after about 8 days it’s tastes exactly what I wanted. Not detecting any of the off flavors. I always seem to get some of the apple flavor or fruity esters when I do non-pressure fermenting ales and even my stout, but this has pretty much gotten rid of that. Now, the other beers have cleared that out and/or mellowed that flavor with time, but the pressure fermented ones are pretty much rid of that from the beginning. I took a sample at about 4 days on my light lager, and it had reached its FG and had little to no off flavors already.

 

[Yesfan]

You should do a split batch of 34/70 to see if there is a difference. From what I can tell, I've been happy with 34/70 pressure fermented or at room temps (mid 60s). It's a very forgiving yeast.

 

[NewBrewer2025]

You should do a split batch of 34/70 to see if there is a difference. From what I can tell, I've been happy with 34/70 pressure fermented or at room temps (mid 60s). It's a very forgiving yeast.

Might have to give that a shot with the next one I do. I want to make another Helles with a little more Munich, so it’d be a fun time to try that and see the results.

 

[BongoYodeler]

I brewed a Munich Dunkel on Monday and it's currently fermenting with 34/70, somewhat warmish. I pitched the yeast at 63°f and it continued to chill overnight to 56.2°. Tuesday the morning after I woke up I let it free rise to about 66°-67° where it's been happily bubbling away. OG was 1.055, and it's already down to 1.013. BS3 estimated a FG of 1.010, so it's getting close.

**Edit: Sorry, for some reason I thought this was the "warm fermented lager" thread.