fast and hard or slow and steady

[peter c]

ive never thought of it until now,whats better slow and steady or fast and hard?when it comes to fermentation.
i always use yeast from fermetis,at the moment ive got a lager brewing with s23 from saturday night and its still going strong at around the 10 c mark
with the ale yeasts its usualy 3 days of quick fire and then no sign of life.
does it make a difference or is it each yeast to its own?

[Jim]

To a certain extent, fermentation temperature can be used to control the characteristics of the beer.

A fast fermentation produces more esters (I think it's esters, anyway ) which results in a 'fruity' flavour well suited to certain ales, a slow fermentation minimises these compounds allowing the flavour of the malt and hops to dominate - more suited to light beers like lager.

[Rookie]

It can also depend on how strong of a beer you are brewing. A best bitter will generally brew in a shorter time than a barleywine.

[Aleman]

more suited to light beers like lager.

Dunkels, Marzens, Ocktoberfests, Bocks, Dopplebock are all 'lagers' and cannot really be described as 'light', and, while fermented with 'lager' yeasts do often exhibit an ester profile . . . . OK not as pronounced as an ale but it is there if you look for it.

Even a 'standard' Bohemian Pilsner cannot be described as 'light' (Well not a proper one anyway ), of course there is a BJCP substyle for budmilloors clones which most drinkers associate with 'lager', but I would expect experienced knowledgeable craft brewers to make the distinction

To add to the replies to the OP, Generally if you are fermenting at 'proper' lager yeast temperatures, then you can generally estimate primary fermentation to be about 1 day for every 4 degrees of Gravity, so a 1.048 beer will ferment in 12 days, a 1.040 beer in 10 days. Of course this does assume that you pitch a 'proper' volume of yeast in the first place. This is much easier to do with ales where you will often see explosive ferments (especially with SO4), rather than lagers, which are slower and steady, due to the yeast working more slowly at lower temperatures.

[Jim]

more suited to light beers like lager.

Dunkels, Marzens, Ocktoberfests, Bocks, Dopplebock are all 'lagers' and cannot really be described as 'light', and, while fermented with 'lager' yeasts do often exhibit an ester profile . . . . OK not as pronounced as an ale but it is there if you look for it.

Even a 'standard' Bohemian Pilsner cannot be described as 'light' (Well not a proper one anyway ), of course there is a BJCP substyle for budmilloors clones which most drinkers associate with 'lager', but I would expect experienced knowledgeable craft brewers to make the distinction

To add to the replies to the OP, Generally if you are fermenting at 'proper' lager yeast temperatures, then you can generally estimate primary fermentation to be about 1 day for every 4 degrees of Gravity, so a 1.048 beer will ferment in 12 days, a 1.040 beer in 10 days. Of course this does assume that you pitch a 'proper' volume of yeast in the first place. This is much easier to do with ales where you will often see explosive ferments (especially with SO4), rather than lagers, which are slower and steady, due to the yeast working more slowly at lower temperatures.

I meant British pub lagers, of course.

[steve_flack]

To add to the replies to the OP, Generally if you are fermenting at 'proper' lager yeast temperatures, then you can generally estimate primary fermentation to be about 1 day for every 4 degrees of Gravity, so a 1.048 beer will ferment in 12 days, a 1.040 beer in 10 days. Of course this does assume that you pitch a 'proper' volume of yeast in the first place. This is much easier to do with ales where you will often see explosive ferments (especially with SO4), rather than lagers, which are slower and steady, due to the yeast working more slowly at lower temperatures.

Having never brewed a lager with proper temperature control before, I was amazed how long it took W34/70 (Fermentis dried) to ferment my Munich Helles. From what you're saying though, a fortnight for a 1.050 beer isn't too out of order. I pitched at low temp too which prolly slowed it down a bit.

[mysterio]

Two weeks is about what it takes my lagers, too.