I am wanting to do an Oktoberfest beer here pretty soon, however I do not have the ability to lager. I don’t have any kind of temp controller aside from swamp cooler/ ice.
I am wondering if there are any good recipes out there to do this. I know it wont taste exactly like an Oktoberfest, but im hoping someone has some experience doing this.
Can I just take an Oktoberfest recipe and use ale yeast instead? Has anyone tried this with success? I was looking at this recipe as a potential candidate.
I have brewed a (M)Oktoberfest that turned out pretty good. I believe you have many options. For instance, you could use California Common yeast which is a true lager yeast that performs well at Ale temps. Another option could be Mangrove Jac’s workhorse yeast which they say is lager-like. Another could be K-97 German Ale yeast which produces clean, clear beer such as Kolsch which is a lager-like beer.
You need to be able to get your fermentation temp down to about 60. If it is possible to get it that low (i.e: Water bath with ice) you should be able to do a very Oktoberfest like ale. The California Common Yeast wants to be kept around 60. But regardless, IMO you are better of using a German Strain with similar temp requirements like a Kolsch or German Dusseldorf Alt yeast. I have had very good success with the Alt strain. Always a fall favorite round my house. Not quite as dry as a MArzen, but damn good!
I really love the Wyeast 1007 altbier yeast. I’ll bet it’s as close as anyone can get to a true lager without lagering. It would be helpful if you can use ice blocks to get it down to about 60 F if you can. And/or, run an experiment and try it warm and see how that turns out.
Those both sound like a great idea. I haven’t tried yet, but Im thinking with a swamp cooler/ ice I may be able to get the temps low enough! Well see! Thanks for the help everyone!
Like Dave says, WY1007 is as close to a lager yeast as you can get in an ale yeast. But no matter what yeast you use, it won’t be very lager like unless you can find a way to ferment it cool and somehow keep it cold afterwards.
I don’t know. Some of Brulosophy’s exbeeriments might casually suggest that fermentis 34/70 can ferment above 60F with decent “lager-like” results. That dry strain seems to be fairly forgiving. That might also be an option for you. But either way, keeping your initial fermentation as cool as you can is really the key to producing a mock lager.
Brulosophy also had great success with WLP029 Kolsch yeast which I would also recommend trying. Very clean stuff indeed, even in upper 60s in my experience.
Another +1 for 2124/830/34-70 @ 60F. It’s surprisingly clean at that temp - not as clean necessarily as a 50F ferment but clean enough not to be thought of as a ‘mocktoberfest’.
I agree wholeheartedly with all the recommendations for W34/70. You will come closer to a lager style beer using 34/70 at ale temps than trying to use an ale yeast. It is my “desert island” strain - you can use it to brew just about anything except hefeweizen and Belgian ales.
Hi Denny, what makes you question if cali common (WLP810 etc.) is a “true lager” yeast?? It definitely falls in the “hybrid yeast” category in that it can ferment well in a wide range of temps and/or temps not typical of the strain Saccharomyces Pastorianus, similar to other yeasts such as WLP862. WLP810/2112/GY005 are listed as a lager yeast by White Labs, Wyeast, Gigayeast and others.
Although I’ve seen them listed as lager yeasts, I’ve also heard that they’re more of a cross. I have no idea of that’s true, so I was hoping someone would have some verification, like a DNA analysis.
To the OP - you could also consider a simple fermenter box made of insulated foam insulation held together with some duct tape in which to put your fermenter or water bath for the fermenter. It need not be fancy - indeed I know of guys that lager that way all the time. With switching out frozen water bottles, you can lager pretty reliably, especially in a cool basement, if you have access to that.
