Whie Labs San Francisco Lager tips?

[mbaker33]

Hey all,

I purchased today the items to brew an Anchor Steam clone for National Homebrew day tomorrow. I am using the WL San Fran Lager yeast strain, but don't really have full lagering capabilities. The reason I chose this yeast was that it was resilient to higher temperatures, in adition to the fact it was the yeast of choice of many an Anchor Steam clone recipe.

My question is, of those who have used this yeast, what do you recommend? I was thinking of using the pail submerged in water trick with a couple of ice packs for the first week and then raise temps to 65 by removing the ice packs for another week... the tricky part comes when I need to actually lager it around 45, I won't be able to get temps that low.

Any input you have would be very helpful.

Thanks,

Mark

 

[humann_brewing]

are you bottling or kegging this?

I am guessing bottling and if so you could "lager" in the bottle after it is carbed by just putting them in a fridge. If your kegging, use that

 

[mbaker33]

I am kegging, and was actually thinking that would work. But I wasn't sure if I would need an airlock during lagering, or if fermentation would be complete after the first 2 to 3 weeks.

 

[SumnerH]

I've made very good cali commons both kegged and bottled by:
1. Ferment in the low 60s, changing the ice out for 7 days or so--until FG is reached.
2. Leave on the primary at cellar temps for another week or so.
3. Keg or;
3a. Bottle and let sit at 65-70ish for a couple weeks or a bit longer (check for carbing)
4. Put keg or bottles in fridge for a couple of weeks.
5. Drink.

4 is the closest I've come to lagering. They clear up and get much crisper with 2-3 weeks in the fridge, though.

 

[ThreeDogsNE]

I went the swamp cooler route for mine: carboy (primary) sat in a tub of water wearing a black tee shirt and sitting in front of a fan. Temp readings ran 60-64*.