Lagers with "ale" yeast

[Woolsocks]

Does anyone use a tough ale yeast to cold-ferment (55º or so) pseudo-lagers? I want to do some lagers but lack the fermenter space for a long, cold, ferment. If so, what strains work well for this? I've heard that Danstar Nottingham can ferment that cold, but never tried it myself.

[tarmadilo]

I got excellent results with Wyeast 1007 "German Ale Yeast". Very clean finish. I'd ferment at 65 degrees F, though, to keep the yeat happy!

Cheers, Tim

[RobZamites]

I used White Labs WLP029 German Ale/Kölsch for that purpose -- fermented nicely at 55°F !

[bigfatjoe]

We've used the Wyeast 1056 successfully as cool at 58 F. Unsuccessfully as cool as 56 F. The biggest problems with this strain and cooler fermentations are extended vdk reduction times. Typically on the order of five days or so to drop below 40 ppb D. If you catch your fermentation about 2-3 P above TG let the temp free rise up to 60 and you'll save youself a few days.
Noticeable change in beer character by simple dropping a few degrees from the "normal" 68 F.

[Captain Mullet]

Why would you want to ferment an ale at 55?

[RobZamites]

Certain styles, most notably cream ales, benefit from a cooler fermentation.

[beertje46]

Why would you want to ferment an ale at 55?

Maybe to brew a Mocktoberfest?

[The Gooch]

Don't do it. Try to hold out against your obvious contempt for the consumer and call an ale an ale and a lager a lager. If your set up procludes you from doing lagers, don't do them. If you do them, do them right. If you want to ferment an ale cold, call it what it is. I'm not saying a lager style fermented with an ale yeast will make for a bad beer but it is not a lager. Have a little respect for the industry as a whole and do not drag it down by misleading the public. This has been done far too much and is bush league.

[tarmadilo]

I agree, and never called an ale a lager or vice versa....

I prefer the term "beer"!



Cheers, Tim

[Beersmith]

I also have to agree with practicing "truth in brewing". It is fine to brew anything you want, just don't mislead the consumer as to the style or process. That being said, if you want to cold ferment with ale yeast to produce a very clean beer, try fermenting with Wyeast 1728 Scottish Ale. We have had good success with it down to 55F. It produces very few esters at that temperature and floccs well to boot.

[hmois]

What 's going on here ? Has anybody found a secret formular where you can make Lager's out of Ale yeast ? Don't tell anybody, for 2 reasons ,first you might lose tons of money if somebody put's it on the market befor you or secondly you might end up as the biggest laughter within the Beercommunity on this Planet. All the big ones ( Breweries ) having a team of Chemists,Biologists ,Brewmasters... working all year long, for finding a Cheap,fast way to produce their bestselling Beers,--LAGER'S without effecting Taste......,Why?, its so easy, just use an Ale yeast wich can tolerate a low fermenttemp. What's next ,using Lageryeast for Baking? ( Aleyeast is really good for it ) True is, whenever you got a sugary Liquid and you wait long enough you will see a fermentation but please don't call it a Lager just because it happened in the colder Wintertime . Woolsocks just brew good Ales , get a Fermentation Tank Fundraiser between your costomer going and don't forget you also need more Aging capazity for Lagers due to longer Aging.Sehr zum Wohle dear Brewsters and Brewers

[tarmadilo]

You can't make lager with ale yeast, but you can take a perfectly tasty recipe ordinarily used for a lager and ferment it cool with a clean ale yeast like Wyeast 1007 and get a tasty BEER. It is what it is, and that can be delicious. I do strongly feel that calling it a lager would be utterly inappropriate, though...

Cheers, Tim

[mr.jay]

I agree with preserving the integrity of our craft by not misleading our clientelle. If you really want to brew an ale, that you can "lager", brew an alt. In my opinion, most beer will benefit from a long cold storage under yeast, but if you intend to brew an ale, it should have the characteristics of an ale, and using certain strains of yeast at very low temperatures can diminish (or stunt your yeast) the beer's distinction. One of my favorite styles is an alt. It sounds like you would enjoy it as well. I suggest you purchase Altbier by Horst Dornbusch. I know it's available through Crosby and Baker. Great book, very inspiring. He goes into some detail about German history, and gives some commercial examples of Alts.
Cheers!