Pale Lager?

[pocketjr]

Well, I just did my first steeping/extract kit… My airlock has never worked so hard.

So, with the first one under my belt, and two more still under the Christmas tree I started thinking about putting together my own grains for steeping. Anybody know about Pale Lagers? Is it just a Pale Ale with Lager yeast? Or am I looking for different recipes all together?

[swenocha]

I tend to think of a pale lager as similar to a cream ale, not a pale ale. Less hops than a pale ale, and more reliance on grainy flavors and crispness from the lager yeast.

[BlackDuck]

According to wiki a pale lager is what BMC brews. They even mention Budweiser by name.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pale_lager

[swenocha]

Exactly. American lager beer is what you are aiming for with pale lager style. German hops on the bitter (on the low side... maybe 10-20ibu), little to no flavor/aroma hops, maybe some corn on the nose and corn sweetness on the flavor, and high carbonation if you are sticking to style. If you don't care about such things as style (I don't always), fire away with whatever...

[haerbob3]

break out the corn syrup. It is a totally different beast. Actually it is one of the harder styles to brew. It will show every mistake you make. Base malt should be pilsner (extract) and one of the lighter crystal malts. Low IBU from noble hops. Are you able to maintain temp for a lager yeast and then for cold storage lager?

Not to discourage you. If you are just starting out I would stick to ales. If you want a very easy drinking ale try a Kolsch. The American Ale yeasts such as Wyeast 1056 will give you a very clean ale.

[pocketjr]

Actually the temp thing is what is discouraging me.

SWMBO likes to keep the house around 18C (64F) at night and 21C (70F) during the day. Our basement generally stays cooler than those temps, but clearly not cool enough for a Lager.

So now I have to ask…. how do you guys achieve and maintain your Lager temps?

[philm00x]

I've only ever done one lager but to maintain temps, I have a temperature controller in a mini fridge that I use as a fermentation chamber. With lagers, I cannot keep ales in the chamber at the same time because of the colder temps needed for fermenting and storing them. If you keep one fridge as an ale chamber, and another as a lager chamber, you can do both at the same time all year round.

[swenocha]

I have a fermenting fridge that fits two small fermenters (either two 3 gallon better bottles, or two LBKs) or one 5 gallon fermenter. It sits at 50 degrees at its warmest temp when on, so it is perfect for my lagers. Also note that lagers take a much longer time. I generally have my lagers in fermenters for five weeks (at least), and in bottles for at least two months before even thinking of drinking them.

If you can't keep lager temps, just do a cream ale. The same thing, but with an ale yeast. Or maybe a kolsch. Regardless of what you call it, just do the recipe you have in mind with a clean ale yeast (Kolsch yeast, US-05, Notty). Fans of pale lagers will likely be agreeable to this kind of beer...

[The_Professor]

It depends on what you mean by "Pale Lager" pocketjr.

The link BlackDuck posted lumps "Pilsner" and "American lager" together as being brewed with lighter grain.
The BJCP Light Lager catagory is pretty different from the Pilsner catagory, largely by hopping rates.

The term "Pale Lager" would seem to be any lager brewed with lighter grain and could be a Bud Light or a Pilsner Urquel.
So it could be all malt or with a rice or corn addition.

[pocketjr]

Thanks guys. I'll probably start out with Swen's cream ale suggestion, but my wife got me a Brewers Best Pilsner kit, and I'd like to do that up properly.

A fermentation fridge would be awesome, but my first question is….. aren't refrigerators air tight? What happens to the gas that comes out of the airlock?

[Inkleg]

but my first question is….. aren't refrigerators air tight? What happens to the gas that comes out of the airlock?

Makes your fridge smell Oh so good when you open it. Past that nothing.
Have not made this Cream of Three Crops yet, but am brewing 10 gallons of BierMunchers Centennial Blonde as I type this. BierMuncher recipes have never let me down.

[The_Professor]

...my wife got me a Brewers Best Pilsner kit, and I'd like to do that up properly....

That kit looks pretty good, good luck with it. Did it come with a branded yeast?

[mashani]

A kolsch yeast is a good bet too if your temps are too warm for a lager. It won't be exactly the same, but it will be dang tasty.

[pocketjr]

...my wife got me a Brewers Best Pilsner kit, and I'd like to do that up properly....

That kit looks pretty good, good luck with it. Did it come with a branded yeast?

I'm glad you asked that as I had to go find it in the box and then discovered it says to keep the yeast between 1-8C, so I threw it in the fridge just now. It's a Brewferm Lager yeast (dry)

[haerbob3]

K can you keep your wort between 50 - 59 F that is the yeasties happy place?

From Brewferm
LAGER
A sturdy lager yeast, delivering a consistent neutral fermentation with little or no Sulphur components or other undesirable by-products.
Flocculation: high.
Final gravity: low.
Fermentation temperature: 10-15°C.
Dosage: 3-6 g/10 l.



From Norther Brewer
Manufacturer Brewferm
Yeast Format Dry
Yeast Type Lager
Yeast Origin/Influence Germany/Czech Rep.
Min Fermenting Temp 50
Max Fermenting Temp 59