So how close can you get to the light clean lager style without actually lagering? I’m able to maintain low 60’s (water temp) with a cooler, water, and ice bottles, obviously not close to lager temps. What ale yeast would give me the best chance?
Thanks
There are actually a few lager yeasts that you can use at this temp. You can try fermenting WY 2112 or WY 2124 in the low 60’s to get a decent mock lager. According to Greg Doss from Wyeast, WY2007 may stay pretty clean even up to the low 60’s as well. I think the key to using lager yeasts at ale temps is to make sure you’re still pitching at lager rates, so make sure your starter is large enough.
You can perform the actual lagering (cold conditioning) in the bottle as long as you give them enough time to carbonate fully at room temp before you start lagering them.
I just did a pilsner using Wyeast 1007 (ale) at 58-60 and it came out very good. I was surprised. I did a collaboration where someone else used lager yeast with the same ingredients and in about a month, we’ll do some side by side comparisons to see how they differ.
The yeast showed a krausen for a full 3 weeks and even when I went to bottle/keg it. A few days in the bottle they cleared up nicely.
Just an idea if you don’t truly want to lager.
US-05 is a decent yeast for a mock lager. Its very clean, its good down to the upper fifties, and it has a very clean profile.
Check out episode 53.
