Low Temps With Lager Yeast?

[Damian44]

Hey peoples. Is it to cold to ferment Lagers in the fridge out the back at this time of the year? Im sure during the next month the temps at night will drop to 1C. Will this have an adverse effect on the beer or just take longer for it to ferment out?


TYVM Damian

 

[Nick JD]

If you've got one of those min and max thermometers you can answer this question easily. 25L of liquid is quite a big mass and water is a supurb thermal buffer, so when brewing it's important to not only consider the highs but also the lows.

If it's 1C at dawn outside and 15C at 3pm then inside your fridge it's probably 7C at dawn and 10C at 3pm. Maybe - test it out. The lager yeast packet will say what temps are desirable.

 

[Thirsty Boy]

if there is too much temp swing.. try putting a big container of water in the the fridge as well - to add thermal mass.

So - put a fermenter full of water in the fridge and monitor its temp (not the temp inside the fridge, the actual temperature of the water) a few times a day (or with the min max thermometer Nick talked about) and if it swings around too much... then try again with as much extra thermal mass in the fridge as as you can.

I reckon you'll end up OK

 

[Damian44]

Thanks guys. I just decided to put a brew on. The price of decent megaswill dictated this. I pitched on Saturday, and low and behold its been sitting right on 12C. I have the fridgemate coming on at 14C, if needed. YAY.

 

[DU99]

you could always wrap it a towel or blanket..

 

[chadjaja]

I've found that overnight temps of 5 degrees etc have had little effect on my lagers of late and add to that too of the daytime 14 degree days. Perfect 10 degrees in a bunings cooler bag with towell over the top.

 

[Brewman_]

I have two lagers going right now in the garage that gets very cold.

The first is with Wyeast 2124, in the fridge set at 12 Deg.C, even with cold nights the fridge still turns on and off to keep the temp at 12.

The second is using Californian lager yeast, on the bench with no temperature control and no blankets. It is going quite nicely at 15 Deg.C.

The important thing is that when ever I check them any time of the day, the temperature is always constant.

It depends on your environment, shed, laundry or fridge. You need to try it and see what you get, and it will change with the seasons. Once you get a bit of experience you will know what you can do where and when. You still need to watch out for abnormal weather if you are not in a fridge with temp control.

Fear_n_loath

 

[Tom909]

The second is using Californian lager yeast, on the bench with no temperature control and no blankets. It is going quite nicely at 15 Deg.C.

Hey, is 15 degrees a bit too high for a lager? I had one sitting in the garage with no temp control and it was sitting on 15 as well. I thought this might've been a bit high so i chucked it in the fridge (on the lowest fridge setting) and now its at about 8 degrees i think...

 

[Bribie G]

Hey, is 15 degrees a bit too high for a lager? I had one sitting in the garage with no temp control and it was sitting on 15 as well. I thought this might've been a bit high so i chucked it in the fridge (on the lowest fridge setting) and now its at about 8 degrees i think...

It depends on the yeast strain. Most lager yeasts like to sit at around 10 to 12 degrees, but some don't mind warmer. For example I have a German Pils made with w-34/70 sitting on 12 degrees in my ferm. fridge which I am now allowing to drift up to 16 degrees for a D-rest. However I also have a Pale Continental Lager made a week later on S-189 that has been bang on 15 for the last week, and I'll be D-resting it at ale temps for a couple of days before lagering.

It also depends on the beer style as well, when using W-34/70 with Aussie Carlton style lagers I start at 13 degrees for a few days then let it rise to 17 degrees over 10 days (which according to a CUB employee is along the lines of what Aus megabreweries do) and it turns out very true to style so the W-34/70 seems to be quite 'forgiving' in this respect. I guess the trick is not to have violent temperature swings, keep things gradual.

 

[Nick JD]

Something I've found out by accident (SWMBO unplugs the fermenting fridge to plug the washing machine in ... two days later I check the lager and it's at 21C :unsure: ) is that lager yeasts fermenting warm at ale temperatures don't necessarily produce "bad" flavours - more "not to style" flavours. Not "lager" flavours, which are really the lack of flavour - clean.

Since then I've done a 18C S189 "lager". It was actually a pretty good drop - very much like a fruity ale, with no undesirable flavours. No one would call it a lager though.

 

[Brewman_]

Hi,
With the Californian Lager, 15 Deg is quite OK. Wyeast specify Temperature Range: 58-68 F (14-20 C). So that's why I don't have it in the fridge, and in fact 15 is on the lower end of the scale.

Speaking of SWMBO, I found that every now and then my fermenters would suddeny get a lot warmer. I found out one day that she had turned on the clothes drier and I was storing my fermenter on the floor beneath it!

Fear_n_Loath.

 

[zebba]

Yep: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steam_beer

And I'm having the same problem with the wife unplugging the tempmate. Grrrrr

Something I've found out by accident (SWMBO unplugs the fermenting fridge to plug the washing machine in ... two days later I check the lager and it's at 21C :unsure: ) is that lager yeasts fermenting warm at ale temperatures don't necessarily produce "bad" flavours - more "not to style" flavours. Not "lager" flavours, which are really the lack of flavour - clean.

Since then I've done a 18C S189 "lager". It was actually a pretty good drop - very much like a fruity ale, with no undesirable flavours. No one would call it a lager though.