Question About A Pilsner

[A3k]

Hi guys,

I'm about to make a pilsner. All the lagers i've made in the past i've used a fridge to control the temp at 10C, but the fridge is full of kegs at the moment, so i'd prefer not to use that.

The temperature in my house is between at 15 & 18C at the moment.

I've done some reading on making lagers at higher temps, and California Lager or an ale like Nottingham or S05 sounds the go.

1) My question is, how will the beer turn out with the yeasts above?

2) Should i just cop it on the chin and go without my kegs for a couple of weeks, or try like hell to get it down with a wet towel and a fan.

3) Also, how would k-97 go if used at about 16C, as i happen to have some of that already.


Cheers
Al

 

[Hutch]

I think S-189 does pretty well at the higher end (>16deg). Not done it myself, but I've read others reports of it working well (Warren?).
This would probably still be a better than say Nottingham or US-05 at the same temperature.

 

[maltedhopalong]

I've got a cardboard box 700 by 700 by 900. I went to a few appliance stores and around the back, I found heaps of plain, flat styrofoam sheets. I cut these into panels for the bottom, sides and top. Box came from the back of the appliance store too. Then I bought a 60L bin from Bunnings for $10, put my fermenter in it, filled the bin up with water, put the whole thing in the box, put about 2L of ice bricks into the water and closed 'er up.

I left a thermometer in the water and monitored the temp that way, (so not perfect). But changing the icebricks twice a day got me ferment temps as low as 8C with ambients between 14 and 24

 

[lagers44]

I think you may be dissapointed with the beer brewed at the higher temps , personally i'd wait till the fridge was available or the ambient temp drops to an acceptable level.
Pilsners & Lagers really do need to be brewed lower to get that clean crispness. You'll be happy you waited & not dissapointed you rushed it.

That's my opinion , it's what i'd do.

Lagers

 

[Jazzafish]

I think you may be dissapointed with the beer brewed at the higher temps , personally i'd wait till the fridge was available or the ambient temp drops to an acceptable level.
Pilsners & Lagers really do need to be brewed lower to get that clean crispness. You'll be happy you waited & not dissapointed you rushed it.

That's my opinion , it's what i'd do.

Lagers

I agree...

There are yeasts that will be better suited to ferment at this temperature... but you'd end up with a beer that resembles the standard 1 week lager that you find on tap at your local pub.

 

[BoilerBoy]

For something more resembling a lager I would go for the 2112 California lager yeast and try and keep the temp as near as 16C as possible.

I don't mind this yeast at all and have used it with lager/pilsner recipes in the past and has worked out fine so long as you accept that while it wont have the fruitiness of an ale its not going to have that true crisp lager finish either.

Cheers,
BB

 

[A3k]

Thanks for the help guys,

I've decided to use a lager yeast and keep the temperature down. I think i'll using some foam and some ice. But if i can't keep the temperature pretty constant i'll resort to the fridge.

I'll put a temperature senser in the middle of the fermenter and connect it to my computer to log the temperature to see how good this method is for me.

Cheers,
Al

 

[warrenlw63]

I think S-189 does pretty well at the higher end (>16deg). Not done it myself, but I've read others reports of it working well (Warren?).
This would probably still be a better than say Nottingham or US-05 at the same temperature.

Yep Hutch, did a rice CAP that got up to around 16 degrees 3 days after pitching after the previous Melbourne heatwave. Beer was as clean as a whistle with no fermentation faults.

That all being said I pitched it at 8-9 degrees so the first 24 hours or so were at saner lager temps.

Personally I think it could go a whole fermentation regime at elevated temperatures and still give you an acceptable beer. From memory Ross knows of a micro doing exactly this with great results.

Warren -