Geordie Lager kit

[jaytee1]

Im not sure if this topic has been brought up before, or is just me that thinks that its strange that the geordie lager kit comes with yeast that is supposed to be fermented between 18 and 25 deg C, in other words ale yeast???

Surely this kit as a lager would be better brewed with a lager yeast.

JT

[steve_flack]

Not necessarily. They might have put an ale yeast in. Regardless 25C is usually too hot for most ale yeasts to give their best flavours. Some do work higher but they are usually specialist Belgian strains.

[jaytee1]

But surely then this ceases to be 'geordie lager' and becomes 'geordie ale' if an ale yeast is used.

[Old Jake]

I've not done a lager yet, but reading some other post on this forum, a lot of lagers do come with ale yeast which does sound a bit odd to me!!

OJ

[bitter_dave]

Most lager kits are supplied with ale yeasts because it makes them easier to ferment - ales can be fermented at room temp (within reason), lagers need to be fermented much cooler.

And, yes, strictly speaking, this means they are not lagers.

[jaytee1]

It does seem strange, perhaps daab or one of the other gurus on the site can provide an explaination.

[jaytee1]

cheers guys,
im hoping that the cellar is still cool enough for lager yeast, just dropped the thermometer down there to get a reading its getting close to 14 deg c, if i can find a cooler spot then im going to try this with lager yeast instead and dry hop with saaz..

well when a can from wilkos is only 4.99 you can afford to play around hey

[jaytee1]

Just wanted to update the forum on this brew...

Unfortunately it never got down to the target 1010 fg settling in at 1016, and would not budge. However this lager at 3.2% is definately good, slightly light but very tasty, im onto the third glass now, and the dry hopping with the saaz has worked nicely. I would def do this again with the lager yeast rather than the ale yeast and DME instead of sugar.

JT

[chopperswookie]

Just done a geordie lager this morning. used geordie beer enhancer (good olde wilko), its not like brewing sugar is it! just threw it into 3 litre of warm water, caught the aroma of lovely malt, looked down..... wheres me spoon!!! stir chopper stir!! didn't clump that much but me arm is aching now!!! added the yeast starter job done. roll on august. lots of lager!

[jaytee1]

Yes you should be fine with the Wilko beer enhancer its 50/50 dry malt extract and brewing sugar. These kits for the price are pretty good. Hope it all goes well for you

[subzero]

Would like to add ive recently got one of these on the go, on the 5th day and the head has now gone, but i can still see bubbles. did the hydro test and it's at 1.016 temp at 19C.

I'm going to keep testing till the hydro is constant. Should be ready for second ferment this friday. I used brewing sugar.