yeast or sugar?

[brysie]

ok can one of you knowledgeable people on here help clarify something for me please?

in my search for a better tasting lager from from a kit, which will affect the final flavour most, yeast or sugar?
if yeast can anyone recommend one? ive been reading about how lagers tend to prefer bottom fermenting and ales and bitters
are more top fermenting depending on which yeast is used. also that lager yeasts work better at low temp and ale yeasts work at higher
temps.

any advice please.

[brysie]

pretty please?

[Jim]

I'm not a lager expert, but I would guess that while different sugars will alter the taste of the brew significantly, using the correct yeast will get you closer to authenticity.

[brysie]

cheers jim

[Trough Lolly]

ok can one of you knowledgeable people on here help clarify something for me please?

in my search for a better tasting lager from from a kit, which will affect the final flavour most, yeast or sugar?
if yeast can anyone recommend one? ive been reading about how lagers tend to prefer bottom fermenting and ales and bitters
are more top fermenting depending on which yeast is used. also that lager yeasts work better at low temp and ale yeasts work at higher
temps.

any advice please.

G'day Brysie,
Lager yeast (Saccharomyces uvarum) is typically a bottom fermenting, relatively cold conditioning yeast compared to its top fermenting ale yeast cousin, Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

IMO, you will have a much greater impact on the lager by choosing an appropriate lager strain, compared to using sugar. Over here, we use a number of excellent dry lager yeast strains including W34/70, S-189 and S-23. I prefer W34/70 for a malty lager that's a good general purpose dry lager yeast. You can proof the dry yeast by adding it to a cup of pre-boiled and chilled water about 30 minutes before innoculating into the wort. The key is to try to keep the ferment cool - around 10 to 12C for lager yeast is ideal (with ale yeasts I aim for 18C but I've got a temperature controlled fridge which makes that part of the task easy). If you ferment a lager at relatively hot temps - 20C plus - you run the risk of the yeast adding undesirable byproducts to the beer, specifically solventy fusels and fruity esters. I made plenty of well hopped pear juice in my time so if you can, keep the fermenter in a cold spot that has relatively stable temps...

Liquid yeasts are aplenty if you have the cash. Wyeast and White Labs have a number of lager yeast strains available - Wyeast offer their yeast in smack packs that need to be "smacked" in order to burst the inner sachet to release the yeast into the nutrient in the pack whereas White Labs commonly sell their yeast in tubes. Either way, it's a good idea to make a starter wort with the yeast if you can - lagers benefit from a larger yeast cell count compared to ales.

Anyway, grab some lager yeast from your local brewshop and have fun. Be patient, the lager yeast usually takes quite some time before you see visible confirmation that the wort sugars are being attenuated by the yeast - the wort needs to be about 5% fermented before it will release CO2 into the headspace above the wort. I've had lags as long as 5 days so don't expect a lightning start with lager yeast as it adapts to the environment you've put it in and gets to work on the available sugars in the wort.

As for sugar, if you have to use it then so be it, but personally I'd recommend you grab some malt extract instead.

Cheers,
TL

[brysie]

what a star.
thats the kind of help i was looking for.

now to see if i can get hold of some over here in old blighty.

[oblivious]

Cool fermentation and a long cold lagering are the keys

The other option is a blond/golden ale protty much the same as a standard lager but with a very slight esters

[brysie]

can you recommend any?

[Trough Lolly]

San Fransisco lager yeast is a lager strain that ferments at room temps - but it won't give you a crisp pilsner flavour profile, but it is nice if you can't cold ferment (I would have thought that you'd have no probs keeping beer cold at this time of the year!!).

A very clean and neutral ale yeast would do the job - Chico ale / US-05 / Wyeast 1056 is not bad but of course, it isn't a lager strain and some say it's cloudy.