steam beer

[jpr210]

so im making an anchor steam clone. i used some saflager s-23 and noticed something interesting (or maybe not interesting if you know whats going on). i thought that ale yeasts were called top fermenting because they formed a layer of krausen while fermenting. while ive never used lager yeast until now, i figured that they wouldnt form any krausen (or maybe some previously unknown bottom krausen?), but lo and behold, theres a good 2-3 inch layer of it sitting right up top...whats the deal with that? would it act differently at lower temps? and if is indeed top fermenting right now, why is it just california common that uses lager yeast? anyone try some different ale styles using lager yeast?

 

[MalFet]

Top fermenting/bottom fermenting is an old British term with only limited descriptive accuracy in HB systems. Particularly, you'll generally get a heady krausen if you're using lager yeasts warmer (56-60ºF) as is typically recommended for California Commons/Steam beers. Lager yeasts give a different fermentation profile than ale yeasts, and many of these "warm lager" strains like CalCommon and Kölsch have been bred to behave well at closer to ale fermentation temperatures. I've never tried S-23 at ale temps, though I'm sure others have.