Did I accidently lager my IPA?

[Dovage]

About 3 or 4 months ago I made a batch of Yooper's DFH 60 Min. Clone.
It turned out good. I didn't get good efficiency, so it a little light in color, and not as sweet. I put a bunch of them in the fridge a month ago, and after cracking some this weekend I had super clear beer, and a much cleaner taste.
Although the hops were still very much present.
So did I end up lagering my beer, and if so should I not store my ales in my fridge for extended amounts of time?

 

[BansheeRider]

About 3 or 4 months ago I made a batch of Yooper's DFH 60 Min. Clone.
It turned out good. I didn't get good efficiency, so it a little light in color, and not as sweet. I put a bunch of them in the fridge a month ago, and after cracking some this weekend I had super clear beer, and a much cleaner taste.
Although the hops were still very much present.
So did I end up lagering my beer, and if so should I not store my ales in my fridge for extended amounts of time?

Did you use lager yeast?? No, you can store your beer in the fridge for as long as you'd like with no ill affects. Although for IPA's the longer they are stored the less hop aroma will be present.

 

[DrunkleJon]

All you really did was essentially cold crash it in bottle. Not to mention, by keeping it cold you slowed down the rate of it ageing. Congrats on a(nother) successful beer.

 

[wonderbread23]

Yes, you did. Lagering essentially means to store cold for an extended period. During this time, yeast, polyphenols , hop matter, etc. drop out of suspension. While you didn't make a 'lager' (noun) because you used an ale yeast, you certainly 'lagered' (verb) your beer.

 

[mrphillips]

If it was a REAL hoppy beer, then the lagering ("lager" meaning "to store") would mellow out the strong hop character, and probably would make it even smoother and complex. I think lagering is ALWAYS a good idea...though I've heard that it doesn't work so well with Witbiers.

 

[Dovage]

Thanks everyone for your replies. As always they have been very educational. I think I'm going to always lager in bottle, with or without lager yeast.

 

[jbaysurfer]

I prefer to call it cold conditioning, but I don't really think it matters. FWIW I foresee more people giving you a weird look when you say you're "Lagering my IPA" then the alternative, but...meh....screw em.

 

[Captain Damage]

"Lager" has several different meanings in brewing, so it can be a little confusing. Context is everything. The verb lager in German means "to store." And as others have pointed out above, it's synonymous with cold conditioning. Virtually all beers, regardless of style IMO, will benefit from a period of cold conditioning or cold storage, also known as lagering. If nothing else, cold storage retards staling and degradation.

Lager also refers to styles of beer which are fermented cool and stored cold. To ferment cool, they utilize lager yeast, which is (currently) refered to as Saccharomyces pastorianus. This is a different species from that usually used for ales, S. cerevisiae. S. pastorianus is able to ferment at much lower temperatures than S. cerevisiae, resulting in a "cleaner" tasting beer with a very low ester profile.

The principle of low-temperature fermentation resulting in a "cleaner" tasting beer is behind our recommendations of trying to keep your ale fermentation temperatures low. S. pastorianus will certainly ferment at higher, ale-range, temperatures and produce plenty of esters in the process. This is the signature flavor of the California Common/Steam Beer style.