Serving beer at lager fermentation temperature?

[ScottG58]

I have a Craigslist freezer that I put a collar on that I have been using part time as a fermentation chamber and part time as a keg cooler. SHMBO would murder me if another kegerator came in the door. I had a thought. I have an ESB and a porter that are ready to keg. I think the optimum serving temperature for those brews might be a good lager fermentation temperature. Does anyone try to ferment lager in their kegerator?

(This might be a stupid question. Remember, there are no stupid questions--just stupid people who ask questions).

 

[Ramitt]

I do, but I keep my keezer at 35 and use a fermwrapwith stc1000,and an insulated jacket of reflectex over the fermenter

 

[Stauffbier]

I lager in my keezer. It's set at 34F. The beer I'm serving is a little colder than I would like, but it warms up in the glass fast enough....

 

[mikeasu]

I figured, serve at 40°, good lagering temp. So, I raise the temp to say, 50-55° for a lager primary for two weeks, or 60-65° for 1 week if an ale (all depending on the yeast - during those times, the gas is disconnected from kegs, and not serving. But long-term lagering at serving temp. Working so far.

 

[Cyclman]

I lager at my beer serving temp, 40. No ill effects, everyone loved my last 2 lagers.

 

[RM-MN]

Serve your porter at the lager fermenting temperature, low to mid 50's. You might be surprised at the difference in flavor you get from it served that warm. I'm not so sure about the ESB at that temp though, that might be too warm for that.

 

[JonM]

You mean serve the ESB and the other one at 50ish? Sure, there' s no problem with that. It's pretty much what I do. I keep my keg fridge at mid-40s and, this time of year, there's a little nook in the basement where the ambient temp stays right at that temp, so I turn off the keg fridge and move all the kegs in there. Sometimes it gets up to 50 in there (like yesterday) but beers are just fine at that temp. Probably will have to adjust your regulator to account for the temp change, though. Cheers!

 

[dyqik]

ESB and Porters should be served at 55 F if you're sticking to the English styles, and at about 1.2-1.4 vols CO2. This might be a bit _warm_ for lager fermentation. Serving them at 50 F shouldn't be a big problem.

 

[DavidJP]

Thats about the right temp for ales anyway, will taste better. I have a lager fermenting low 50's at the moment in my kegerator, luckily i have a spare fridge that i'll lager in.

I remember our local pub in the UK one particular christmas the heating system in their beer cellar failed and it was a particularly cold snap and it basically was ambient outside temp. Its was amazing the taste difference now that the beer was nearer freezing and believe me everybody complained.