pilsner

[ishothesherif]

I really want to brew an all grain batch of a pilsner of lager. It seems really complicated with the cold fermentation and taking it through a bunch of different temperatures...i dont have a fridge that my carboy will fit in and i dont have a fancy system with PID controllers. is it possible to just brew regularly with one mash in temperature, a continuous sparge and however long boil. then possible keep it in a cooler place, say 50-60 degrees????

really want some of this beer so please help!!!!

 

[rklinck]

At those temps, I would not try to brew with a lager yeast. Most lager yeasts have upper temp ranges around 55 degrees. If you ferment at that upper range, you will probably not end up with a clean flavor profile. If you can honestly hold the temps you suggest, I would make a "pilsner" but replace the yeast with a Kolsch yeast. I always think of kolsch as the pilsner ale. A kolsch should be lagered at some point, but you can probably get a similar result by cold conditioning the bottles.

 

[ishothesherif]

thanks a lot i think ill do that. also heard pilsners require a big starter...is that necessary?

 

[Cyclman]

You can lager really cheap, with a little extra labor. Buy a $15 keg bucket, put in the carboy, and use frozen 2l bottles to keep the temp in the low 50s. You'll have to replace them routinely, but not as often as you might think.

Lagers are awesome, worth the extra effort for the wonderful but clean flavor.

 

[Hogarthe]

you can use the kolsh yeast, or use either Wyeast 2112 California Lager, or White Labs 810 San Fransisco lager yeast. both of these will ferment well at 60 degrees. then cold condition the bottles in the fridge, after they carbonate. And you will want to do a good size starter. I usually do 3 liters starter with either of the lager yeasts I posted, and ferment at 60-62 F.

 

[freisste]

What is the temp range on those two strains? I looked into doing a lager a while ago, and almost got sucked into using a lager yeast that said it was fine into the 60s. Luckily I realized that the high end of the range was for a steam beer.

Just wanted to make sure you are aware.

 

[ishothesherif]

i went with a cerveza instead for this batch, similar to lagering but i dont think i need as low of temps.

doing a starter is just mixing in the yeast with room temp wort or DME right?