Yeast and fermenting temperatures....

[ohill1981]

I was trying to make a recipe i got from Charlie Papazian's joy of homebrewing book and the recipe calls for either American Lager Yeast or a Pilsner like yeast. The beer i am making is called Rocky Raccoon's Crystal Honey Lager and i was not sure what temperature i would need it to be at for proper fermentation. Would there be a temperature difference in using the Pilsner yeast over the American lager yeast?

 

[KayaBrew]

I don't know if this helps, but I am brewing a "Steam" style ale, which is an ale fermented with lager yeast (in my case Saflager S-23). I got some advice on this site saying to ferment it between 56 and 60. If you can't keep it that low, just shoot for under 65.

 

[HairyDogBrewing]

Lagers are usually fermented at lower temperatures.
White Labs recomends 50-55F for WLP840 American Lager strain.
Wyeast recomends 48-56F for 2278 Czech Pilsen Lager strain.

Lager brewers use either a chest freezer with a temperature controller
or some other kind of fermentation chamber.

You can still use the recipe and it will be good.
But it won't be identical if you can't match the process as well as the ingredients.

 

[ohill1981]

Lagers are usually fermented at lower temperatures.
White Labs recomends 50-55F for WLP840 American Lager strain.
Wyeast recomends 48-56F for 2278 Czech Pilsen Lager strain.

Lager brewers use either a chest freezer with a temperature controller
or some other kind of fermentation chamber.

You can still use the recipe and it will be good.
But it won't be identical if you can't match the process as well as the ingredients.

What type of taste difference would i see if this recipe was brewed with an ale yeast instead ?

3 1/2lbs plain extra light DME
2 1/2 lbs light clover honey ( i was also going to just use regular clover honey)
2 oz cascade hops
3/4 cup of corn sugar

 

[HairyDogBrewing]

It will be good, just different.
Ales get more flavor contributions from the yeast.

Sorry to be vague, but I find it hard to describe.
Also, my focus is on ales - I haven't brewed lager for almost a year now.

Experiment with different yeasts.
Just about any combination of malt, hops, yeast, and water will make drinkable beer.

 

[Blender]

You can purchase the yeast that Charlie Papazian uses for his beer. I think I remember that he uses a yeast that can be fermented pretty cold for an ale. I it called Cry Havoc.