lager ferment temps?

[dmtaylor]

My basement is at 57 F. With a t-shirt and fan I got my fermenter down to 52 F. You can lose 5 degrees with the wet t-shirt over the fermenter, blowing a fan on it. Good enough for my lager yeast, which has a stated range of 50 to 55 F. Perfect, in fact. Other yeasts probably work better in the 40s, but some are fine in the 50s.

[jimlin]

Why not plug in your controller to your fridge and set it to 50F to maintain those temps for your lager then?

The freezer is full of food though, so I don't know if I should have the freezer depending on the temp controller too. But IF that would work, would I need to worry about venting? Would it stink up the fridge with sulfur odors?

[adamK]

The freezer is full of food though, so I don't know if I should have the freezer depending on the temp controller too. But IF that would work, would I need to worry about venting? Would it stink up the fridge with sulfur odors?

It most certainly will stink the crap out of the fridge, but it will vent alright. You could keep it in the fridge and leave the fridge as it is (then the freezer will be intact) and just use the fermwrap connected to the fermenter to keep temps. Fermwraps can hold temps pretty high above ambient, as long as they don't have to actually heat the liquid.

It sounds like whatever route you go, though, you should have no problems making the lager.

[jimlin]

I also have a question about the stater. I assume it should be around ferment temps as well, right? So I should stre the starter flask in the basement to avoid the mid-upper 60s temps in the rest of the house?

[brewinhard]

You can do your lager starter at regular starter temps 65-70F. Remember, you are only trying to grow your yeast up as opposed to making a delicious lager. With this method I would recommend cold crashing your starter and pitching just the slurry only. If you plan on pitching an active starter, then with your last step-up, you should ferment it close to your temps you will ferment your lager at.

[BeaverBarber]

As a general rule, more esters (not always considered off flavors) and higher alcohols (though not in this temp range) will be created at higher temperatures. Cooler temps generally means a cleaner (but slower) fermentation (within proper ranges), though the effects of the temperatures is strain dependent.

Absolutely right. I heard on one episode of Can You Brew It that the WLP 940 Mexican Lager Yeast performs really nicely at that temperature, but it's a little fruity. Remember, that if your ambient temperature is 54, your internal fermentation temperature will be 61-62 at high krausen which is absolutely perfect for WLP 810 Cal Lager yeast. As fermentation slows, internal temperature will more closely match your ambient temperature. So you can go a couple of ways with this. Use a conventional lager yeast and just let it go. You can expect some fruity flavors, but as AdamK says that's not necessarily always considered bad. Or you could use the Cal Lager yeast for a clean flavor and bring the beer in the house for a few days once fermentation slows. That's what I'd do, but everyone is different. Depends on what you want to do, but I wouldn't ruin a freezer full of food.

[jimlin]

As a general rule, more esters (not always considered off flavors) and higher alcohols (though not in this temp range) will be created at higher temperatures. Cooler temps generally means a cleaner (but slower) fermentation (within proper ranges), though the effects of the temperatures is strain dependent.

Absolutely right. I heard on one episode of Can You Brew It that the WLP 940 Mexican Lager Yeast performs really nicely at that temperature, but it's a little fruity. Remember, that if your ambient temperature is 54, your internal fermentation temperature will be 61-62 at high krausen which is absolutely perfect for WLP 810 Cal Lager yeast. As fermentation slows, internal temperature will more closely match your ambient temperature. So you can go a couple of ways with this. Use a conventional lager yeast and just let it go. You can expect some fruity flavors, but as AdamK says that's not necessarily always considered bad. Or you could use the Cal Lager yeast for a clean flavor and bring the beer in the house for a few days once fermentation slows. That's what I'd do, but everyone is different. Depends on what you want to do, but I wouldn't ruin a freezer full of food.

I'm thinking about simply using a plastic tub with water in it. I can added frozen water bottles to drop the temp if needed. The mass of the water around the carboy should slow the wort from warming up too much from the ferment.

The other option is to build a box with foam/insulation board and put it all in the garage, using the temp controller and fermwrap to heat the carboy. WInter in northern MA and the outside temps vary around 25-40 (sometimes colder). But the garage is attached and under a room in the house, so it may be a bit warmer inside it than out. Might work best the first week when the ferment would be most active to keep it from warming higher than 50.

[BeaverBarber]

I'm thinking about simply using a plastic tub with water in it. I can added frozen water bottles to drop the temp if needed. The mass of the water around the carboy should slow the wort from warming up too much from the ferment.

That's a great idea. Chris White suggests on his White Labs web site, a fermentation temperature of 55 degrees for most of his lagers, and that's the temperature that I find works the best. Let it get started at your 54 ambient temperature, then drop it in the water bath and adjust accordingly. That'll work great. Remember that lager yeast need all the help they can get to grow, so don't forget to oxygenate and add yeast nutrient to the last 10 minutes of your boil. Yeast require calcium, nitrogen, oxygen and zinc for optimal fermentation. Yeast get calcium from your water and nitrogen from the grains, but the only way the yeast get oxygen and zinc is if you put it there. If your water is too soft, add a little gypsum. Also, mentally prepare yourself for and extended lag time. Many people just getting into lagers get a little freaked out by the longer lag times...18-24 hours is normal, and 36 hours isn't terrible either. You don't want anything in excess of 48 hours, but many people report plenty of success with lag times that long.