A homebrewing acquaintance constantly updates me on his brewing projects, and he often mentions "lagering" his ales. I just let him enjoy his hobby and never trouble him with the details.
I did not mention that a true stout / porter has that same quality. I did not have a feeling of being a "black beer" and thought it impressive that. I figured it was a lager, so I asked and he said yes, it was a lager, but that he used an aleast instead of a lager yeah. I refrained from breaking the bad news to him.
I do not always like to correct people, especially if they seem to think they know what they & # 39; re talking about. Plus, I do not always know what I & # 39; m talking about!
That & # 39; s why I decided to do a little double checking, and write about this here explain the real difference between aging, lagering, and using a yeasts to make lagers. The latter of which is technically impossible anyway. a lager yeast and ferment at ale temperature, or use an a yeast and ferment at lème temps we have successfully created a "hybrid" beer which I will not go into detail into here.
So, why do not we lager ales? Simple answer: because lagering is a process used to produce lagers not ales, and if you 're looking for a traditional lager flavor or a flavor it is best to stick with the program. lager lagers and age ales. What & # 39; s the difference?
Home brewers like to experiment, but if we start mixing and matching yeast without first understanding how they work then we are doing ourselves a great disservice.
Simply put, lager yeast are yeasts that ferment and age at lower stage than ale yeast. Lagering is a lower yeast. Lagering is 55 deg, and lagered at even lower temps, say, between 35 and 45 degrees for a few weeks. cold temp in order to produce the desired result for that style of beer.
Ales are not lagered. They are generally fermented between 65 and 70 degrees, and aged at roughly that temp for a couple of weeks, depending on the style.
Also, lager yeast except certain flavors and aromas to the brew which are not typical of ales, and vice versa. If your intention is to brew a really great, traditional lager, then use ingredients geared towards that style, and by all means use a lager yeah! Using an ale yeast in this mix will not produce the style you intend to achieve.
His final product was not a German lager, but just a mixed up home brew hybrid. His beer would have had a different flavor if fermented with lager yeast and aged cold, or lagered.
When fermenting your lager, setup a cool environment so you can ferment at optimum temperatures for that style of beer, and prepare to lager it for a few weeks at that cold temperature too.
That's the fermenter and cover it up. That & # 39; s all. A consistent 65 to 70 degree ambient room temperature is just fine.
I my area of the northeast US these temps occur naturally in the spring and fall. I rarely brew in the summer because temperatures are too inconsistent, and often too hot.
When you rack it to the secondary you can take it on the first fermentation is complete. If you rack it to the secondary you can take the opportunity to add additional flavors like oak chips or fruit flavorings, or just to let it sit for another week to settle out more. But this is not considered lagering, it is simply aging.
Try to consume your beer within 4 or 5 ABV of around 5 or 6% most homebrews would suffer from sitting too long. months after bottling. Aging your homebrewed ales for a prolonged period is not always a good idea, except your alcohol content is sufficient to prevent bacteria from overdeveloping.
So, it & # 39; s fine to experiment with hops and yeast varieties, but you are trying to produce specific styles of ale or lager, make sure you use the correct yeast for the project, and the roper fermentation process.
Happy brewing!
