Am gearing up to brew my first lager - a German pils. I have a nice healthy starter of wlp833 going. I don't have any real temperature control, which is why I haven't brewed a lager yet, but my "mudroom" gets nice Nd cold in the winter so I think I can manage to get the proper temps. Normally, this space is at 48ish degrees F, but the recent cold snap here has dropped the temp down to 44. Will this ambient temp be ok for this yeast? How cold would be too cold?
Too cold for lager yeast?
- Thread starter JLem
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My guess is that you would be okay at 44, provided you pitch a lot of yeast. I've not used any White Labs strains, but know that some lager strains are much more tolerant of cold than others.
A fail-safe would be to cool it into the 60s using your immersion chiller or whatever, pitch your yeast, wait for signs of fermentation, then move it into your 44 degree space. I don't like this practise but you can consider it as a last resort. If you pitch a LOT of yeast (2 million cells per ml of wort per degree Plato), it will probably go, even at 44. I've used Wyeast 2124 in that range. Your actual ferm temp will be at least a few degrees warmer. DON'T PANIC. It might take you a few days to see signs of fermentation. Aerate well (with pure oxygen, if possible) and pitch the hell out of it.
A fail-safe would be to cool it into the 60s using your immersion chiller or whatever, pitch your yeast, wait for signs of fermentation, then move it into your 44 degree space. I don't like this practise but you can consider it as a last resort. If you pitch a LOT of yeast (2 million cells per ml of wort per degree Plato), it will probably go, even at 44. I've used Wyeast 2124 in that range. Your actual ferm temp will be at least a few degrees warmer. DON'T PANIC. It might take you a few days to see signs of fermentation. Aerate well (with pure oxygen, if possible) and pitch the hell out of it.
I've used WLP833 at 48 degrees, but never colder. If you pitched a large enough starter, you might be just fine. It was going pretty well for me at 48.
I guess you could try it and if it was too cool, then add a space heater, or bring it inside?
I guess you could try it and if it was too cool, then add a space heater, or bring it inside?
OP
OP
JLem
Well-Known Member
I'm looking at something in the order of 1.6 million cells per ml per degree Plato...so not quite as much as you suggest. This is based solely on starter size and calculated using mrmalty. I'll give this a try and see how it goes...I can always add a heating pad or move into a corner of the cellar that might not be too warm...actually, the closet in my "mudroom" may actually be a few degrees warmer now that I think about it (it's on the inside part of the house, under the main staircase, so the it gets some residual heat from the upstairs). I'll stick a thermometer in there tonight and see where it's at.
