Im fermenting J.Q. Adams lager with wyeast california yeast in a plastic bucket in my basement. The recent snow storm in NY made my power go out. That means no heat until i get home and plug in the generator. Its been in the 50’s durring the day since the outage. the airlock was bubbling for a few days before the storm. usually lager should ferment in 45-55F temps, but the california yeast is supposed to be used in warmer “ale” temps which im not in now. Do you guys think Im still ok, or will i have a bad batch now?
You won’t have damaged the beer by getting it cooler (as opposed to getting it too warm, which can produce off-flavors), but the yeast might really slow down if out of their comfort zone. Since you’re using a bucket, you could add an aquarium heater and keep it in the right temp range.
I just got my power back myself. Once you get your power back, warm up the bucket upstairs and give it a good swirl to re-suspend the yeast and wake them up from their little hibernation. It should be OK. I have used that yeast in the upper 50’s before without a problem – It’s just slow.
