BeerBorg

Well, the one time I brewed a lager, I carbed at room temp for 2 weeks, then lagered for months.

Phil, I would keep it at room temp (or fermentation temp) throughout the carbing and conditioning phases. Remember, it's not really a lager you're making, so the rules are a little different. You don't have to baby it the way you would a Bock or a Pils. Your choice, of course, but don't fear the Cali Common yeast. It's doing what it's supposed to do, and as long as you don't get temps into the 70s, I can't see any downside.

Hmm.. No 70s, you say? Room temp in the house is 71-73 these days, so I guess I'll put em in the brew fridge at fermentation temp (64*).

That's probably safest. For me, except at the height of the summer Dog Days, my basement doesn't get above 70, so I just leave all my beer down there until it's conditioned. But high 60s won't hurt it, I'm sure. Fermentation temps would be ideal, I think, so your plan is probably the best.

I definitely appreciate your wisdom and knowledge about this style of beer, Dave. I do have one question though. I am trying to harvest yeast from this batch, and I have 3 mason jars full of beer and trub, but I don't see any well defined creamy layer above, nor underneath the trub. Does steam beer yeast just mingle in between it?

FWIW Phil, don't worry about the low 70's for carbing. There is such a small amount of activity going on that you won't cause any off flavors. But since you aren't in any rush, 64 will carb them just fine over time, too.

I don't recall this yeast being any different in terms of washing it and re-using it.

Ahh well... already in the brew fridge. No big.

As far as the yeast goes, I decided to put the three mason jars into the fridge after shaking them back up to see if the yeast and trub separate better than out on the counter. I got all of it out of the bottom of the LBK so there's gotta be yeast in one of the jars!

Sometimes there's not a clear separation between the "good" yeast and the "bad stuff" in washed yeast. If you really feel you're a little short you can always double up on the next batch. That's what I did recently with WLP001. You don't have to do it perfectly, Phil. YOu just have to do your best.

Well after shaking them up and putting them in the fridge for an hour, there was a more noticeable stratification, and the layer above the trub was milky looking so I condensed that into one big bottle, where I'll let that settle and then washed it one more time into one mason jar.

Did you use an "open" fermentation vessel like Anchor steam?

I hadn't thought about doing it that way, to be honest. But even so, I had another LBK in there, both fermenting at 64*F. Don't know that it would affect it being open at that temperature, but I'm not willing to find out (yet). Those coolships at Anchor are pretty awesome though!

The only open fermentation I've done is on a Hef. I've never thought about doing it on a common but I have two free weeks coming up.....hmm.

Brewed a new batch of this sweet nectar today.

FWIW, I "semi open" ferment just about everything that has yeast driven flavors. I've been making great beer that way. I would consider a cali common such a beer.

I can't open ferment totally due to my house Brett. But I simply put the lid on my LBCs very lose and do not use an airlock or gasket. So it vents totally freely, holds no pressure, but bugs can't just fall into the wort. Once fermentation completes, I will tighten the lid if I can't get to bottling right away.