I encounter a lot of brewers reasonably new to the hobby (usually having only a few AG beers behind their belt) who want to try out brewing their first lager with one of the SF strains. Usually the reason they want to do this is because they want to brew a clean lager-like beer without temperature control. I generally advise them that it isn't bottom-fermenting that makes the beer clean, but the suppression of yeast-derived flavors which naturally occurs with a cooler, slower fermentation and a massive pitch of yeast. So it reasons that brewing a beer with the Anchor lager strain at uncontrolled temperature (which is rarely under 65F and often over 72F here in the bay area) is going to produce as estery and unpolished a beer as just using a clean ale yeast at the same temperature. Then I tell them that, until they are controlling fermentation temperature, the cleanest fermentation profile they are likely to produce will come from the chico yeast, and that when they do get a hold on their fermentation temperature, they will probably produce a cleaner, more lagery yeast with the Bohemian Lager/German lager strain, as it is less idiosyncratic than the Anchor strain.
Topic: 2112 fermentation plan (Read 15200 times)
