Ale Yeast V Lager Yeast

[MOFF]

I have done a few Coopers India Pale Ale home brews and they have turned out very nice.

 

 

 

So I thought I would try my hand at the new Bavarian Lager.

 

 

 

With the same setup as the Pale Ale brews I found that the signs of fermenation where very hard to see.

 

 

 

The Ales had plenty of activity in the airlock and the scum ring at the top of the brew was thick, but the Bavarian Lager had next to no activity in the Airlock, no scum ring and if it wasn't for the condensation on the lid I would have thought the yeast was dead!!

 

 

 

Is this a fundamental difference between Ale yeast and Lager yeast?

Or do Coopers use the same yeast regardless of brew type?

 

Is this sort of activity (or lack of it) normal for a lager?

Should I expect this in future Lager brews?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As for my Lager, the SG dropped as I would have expected to see and I bottled a week ago, so there is still some waiting left to see what the end result is.

[PB2]

MOFF,

 

 

 

have a look at the article LAGER...LAGER...LAGER!

 

 

 

 

 

You can find it in the centrefold of the July Coopers Club News.

[Oliver]

But if you haven't got the newsletter handy, no ring of scum is exactly what you'd expect. Ales are top fermenting, and tend to rise to the top of the beer as they perform their magic. Lager yeasts are bottom fermenting, hence the lack of scum on the surface.

 

 

 

However, you still should have had the same amount of action through the airlock. The lack of action could indicate a leaking fermenter (the air was escaping somewhere other than through the airlock.

 

 

 

Even so, a telltale sign would have been the sediment collecting in the bottom of the fermenter. (That's provided you haven't got a black fermenter, of course!)

 

 

 

Cheers,

 

 

 

Oliver

[c38193]

Moff,

 

 

 

I had exactly the same experience with my Bavarian Lager brew and posted a message under the topic 'Beer Question'. The response I got back from Paul at Coopers was :

 

 

 

"The lager yeast supplied with Bavarian Lager tends to produce a less obvious scum ring.....but you should have the sediment and the condensation.....draw a sample off and look for bubbles then measure the specific gravity"

 

 

 

hope this helps

 

 

 

cheers