Some help/advice please

[Gugs44]

Hi Guys,

I have just finished my second HB and went down a treat amongst friends, taste, smell and looked great, it was a Pale Ale and finished at 5.2ABV which was my aim, next time I think I will try dry hopping because the more hop flavour the better for me

My initial question is that I would like to try make a Lager using some German hops but is it possible to do this using aa Ale yeast as I do not have the set up to keep the Temps low for a true Lager, Also what could a man do to boost carbonation?? I usually use the 'coopers' carbonation drops but they arent great, would adding more fermentables increase carbonation.

Thanks very much in advance

Denis

 

[chickypad]

You can use something like a kolsch yeast or a clean ale yeast but it's still best to try to ferment as cool as you can like low 60's. You could also use a california common yeast - lager yeast that fements at ale temps. Still I would try to keep it in the low 60's if you want a clean character.

Carbonation will depend on the amount of priming sugar you give the yeast. You may have better results batch priming rather than using drops, and figuring your desired carbonation level with a priming calculator like this.

 

[cluckk]

On the carbonation go with chickypad's recommendation. I've tried the carbonation drops and really wasn't very pleased with the results.

 

[Gugs44]

Thanks very much chickypad....all good advice their n much appreciated, my mates mother owns a restaurant and said I could use their cold room as it hits good temps for lagering by day while they r open for business as staff r constantly coming and going from the room but at night it gets very very cold, too cold I reckon, Il try n sort something but thanks again

 

[unionrdr]

Here's a great comprimise to lager yeast temps. I used White Labs WL029 German ale/kolsh yeast on a dark & a light hybrid lager. It's a hybrid of ale & lager yeast that has an ideal ferment temp range of 65-69F! Gives a nice little crispness on the back. Even more so with the German Haultauer & Czech saaz hops I used. Def a nice combo. It's a liquid yeast in a vial,so it'll be like $6.50. You'll def wanna wash & save this one. I saved both batches worth. Also,it's the steadiest fermenting yeast I've ever used. From start to finish,it was a constant machine pistol bursts of bubbles from the airlock. Germans sure are some clever folks...:rockin:

 

[GASoline71]

The only thing dry hopping does is add more hop aroma, and not IBU's or bitterness. If you want more hoppy flavor, you will need to add more hops in the boil. Dry hoping gives that awesome hop aroma when you drink from the glass.

Gary