Cream Ale - Lager, Cold Crash what's the difference

[cmoewes]

So I brewed a Cream Ale and after 10 days in primary the FG had settled at what is was supposed to be. A brewer I know reccomended that I lager it if I have the ability, which I do. But how long do I lager it for? I don't want to tie up my ferm-chamber for weeks. So if I get it down to 34-35F for a week is that enough, and at that point isn't it really just a long-ish cold crash. Or is it a short lager-ing?

Are they functionally the same (drop the temp to get the yeast and other particulates to drop out) and is the difference just a matter of length of time?

 

[JDGator]

did you use an ale yeast or lager yeast?

 

[hunter_le five]

You pretty much just cold-crashed it, but that's better than nothing.

I would go ahead and bottle it, carb it up for 3 weeks, and then stick them in the fridge for a month (if you have the space for it). That way you can lager them in the bottle, and still have the fermenter space free.

Lagering isn't really required for a cream ale, but it does smooth it out a bit.

 

[cmoewes]

I used an ale yeast. Thanks for the suggestion hunter seems like a good plan