Ferment lager with ale yeast?

[jackgym]

Can you use an ale yeast and ferment a lager (fresh wort kit) at 18deg?

 

[Sidney Harbour-Bridge]

Ale yeast will ferment the wort, using an ale yeast will make an ale, using a lager yeast at low temperatures and storing cold for an extended time will make a lager

 

[jtgoral]

Yeast does not care. You will make, hopefully, a nice ale.

 

[Drubbing]

Can you use an ale yeast and ferment a lager (fresh wort kit) at 18deg?

Yes. Add some summer style hops like Lemondrop for bittering and/or dry hop and you have a Summer ale.

 

[jackgym]

Yes. Add some summer style hops like Lemondrop for bittering and/or dry hop and you have a Summer ale.

Interesting, thanks.

 

[Dave70]

Or for 3 deg less you can go with this.
Neutral as Switzerland.

 

[dmtaylor]

Or for 3 deg less you can go with this.
Neutral as Switzerland.

View attachment 123120

Diamond makes great lagers at 18-19C in my experience.

And so does S-04(!).

 

[chookherder]

Hi Dave,

Lager recipes fermented with ale yeast is the way Cream Ales are made, bad name but good beer.

Ben

 

[dmtaylor]

Hi Dave,

Lager recipes fermented with ale yeast is the way Cream Ales are made, bad name but good beer.

Ben

No disagreement from me. Cheers!

 

[Timewellspent]

When I started out brewing I had a play with a Pilsner SMaSH recipe where did the same brew a few times but I only changed the yeast. When using an ale yeast the flavour profile of the Pilsner malt and Saaz hops did not really work together all that well. I made beer, but it was just a little underwhelming. Still drank it tho so it was definitely not the end of the world.

If you don’t have temp control and you want to use the ale yeast I say go for it.

 

[An Ankoù]

It depends what you're trying to do. If you're trying to get as close to a lager as possible, but can't get the low temperature then use a lager yeast. Fermentis W34/70 is a very forgiving lager yeast that'll ferment nicely into the 20s Centigrade. It won't be as crisp as a cold-fermented beer and it'll give you some ale-like esters, but there won't be any off-flavours from the yeast. You'll need to store the beer so it can mature- just like a lager.
Alternatively look at recipes for "pseudo-lager" using "California Lager" yeasts like MJ M54. I tried this and now regularly make a brew hopped with NZ Nectaron. It's interesing in that when it's slightly chilled, you could almost think it's a lager and when it's a bit warmer, say 10-12C, it tastes like a summer ale. MJ54 conditions the beer quicker than W34/70 but still benefits from a month in the bottle. As for my regular lagers, I don't even look at them until the've been packages for 6 months. As long as they ferment and start their conditioning cold, it doesn't matter if they warm up a bit in the spring and summer.

 

[jtgoral]

Can you use an ale yeast and ferment a lager (fresh wort kit) at 18deg?

No. Yeast type decides about beer being lager or ale.
But you can ferment your kit with ale yeast to get an ale.

 

[golfandbrew]

Make your lager kit with ale yeast and if anyone asks, just lie to them. Most won't know the difference or care.