So guys, I have a question related to this thread. We are fermenting lager strains warm - but why? Is it for the clean fermentation profile, or just because we want true lagers? I'm asking as I made a pseudo pilsner the other day and was too lazy to use lager yeast, so I ended up just using what was right before me - S-04.
I made the beer with pils malt, a bit of melanoidin for colour and a dash of dextrin for head retention. I made it using Perle hops for both bittering and a late addition and when cooled I pitched S-04 at 17°C and it fermented there until completion. I bumped the temp to 20°C and when it sat there for a few days I dropped to 10°C in prep for gelatin fining.
However, life got in the way and I kinda forgot about the beer in there, and after 2 weeks I opened the fermenter, remembered it was in there and hastily kegged it. I pulled a sample and I'll be damned - it has to be the most lager-ish ale I've ever made. It's clean, the hop profile is spot on and while the colour is maybe a bit too dark (too heavy with the melanoidin), it's a really really fine beer. The S-04 fermented SUPER clean at the slightly lower temperatures and from the initial taste I couldn't pick up much issue with the yeast AT ALL.
On the other hand, I've made a true lager not long ago as well, using a good recipe and fermented with Lallemand's Diamond Lager yeast. I made a starter to pitch the correct amounts and after slow fermenting at the yeast's perfect temps (11°C) I lagered the beer for 6 weeks before kegging. It's been in the keg now for a month, and it's only starting to drop it's yeast flavour now. I treated it perfectly, fined it well and for starters, the beer refuses to clear. There's a permanent haze (not chill haze) that doesn't drop. On top of that, there's a definite yeast flavour in there. It's not off, like phenols or whatnot, it actually tastes like yeast. Like sourdough, almost.
Now don't get me wrong, I love me a good lager. I'm a sucker for a pale, clear, easy drinking lager any day of the week and I've made a few really cool ones - but it can't be just me who thinks that maybe lager yeasts are (gasp) overrated?
So my question again - why do we keep sticking to lager yeasts?