Newbie Fermentation question

[Christin]

Hello i am new to the world of brewing and I recently bought ingredients to clone my favorite brew (Barking Squirrel Lager). Being a newbie i never realized how cold lagers have to ferment. My question is how warm can saflager w34/70 yeast ferment. The coldest spot in my house is in my crawlspace (cement floor) 17C or 62.6F(spring). Do you think this would be cold enough? Also the recipe calls for 7days primary and 30 days secondary would this change with the warmer temps? My plan was to keep it in the primary for the duration what are your thoughts?

 

[seabrew8]

You can simply put the fermenter in a large pail with water and frozen plastic bottles. And/or put a wet t-shirt on the fermenter and point a fan towards it. I would ferment around 10C personally if you want a clean lager.

 

[Morrey]

True Lagers are "picky turtles" when temps are concerned. Most brewers have the best success when lagers are controlled around 50F with some sort of ATC system. Not saying 34/70 wont do well in the 60's, but the optimum range is in the 50's. With simple malt bills lagers typically use, there is little place for off flavors (ferm temp issues) to hide.

If your limitations prevent control, I suggest using your same grain and hop bill while using WLP029 Kolsch which is an ale yeast (ferments at ale temps) but can surprise you with a clean, lager-like taste.

By all means, consider staying in the primary for the entire fermentation period. Unless you have special needs such as racking onto fruit in a secondary, most brewers don't risk infections racking to secondary's these days.

 

[Christin]

Thanks for the advice guys. Morrey one of my friends suggested trying Safale US-05. Do you think WLP029 Kolsch would be better than US-05?

 

[seabrew8]

US-05 is a really good yeast. I'm not morrey though lol

 

[neverfadeaway86]

+ 1 on WLP 029 / was making a kolsch that ended up more like a blonde but the beer was very light and crisp and I fermented it in the low 60's 2 weeks primary, 2 weeks carbing and then cold crashed in fridge for 5 days and it was good to go !!