S23 Saflager lager yeast, when to use it
The difference between an ale and a lager isn't the recipe, it's the yeast and the temperature it wants to work at, and that's the whole reason a lager is harder to pull off in a shed in South Australia. An ale yeast is happy sitting in a warm laundry. A lager yeast wants it cold, and it wants time, and S23 Saflager is the one we stock for that job.
What S23 actually is
It's a bottom fermenting lager yeast in an 11.5g sachet, and bottom fermenting is the bit that matters, because it means the yeast does its work down in the body of the beer and drops out cleanly at the end rather than sitting up in a head on top. That's where the clarity in a good lager comes from. The packet gives an optimal fermentation temperature of 9 to 15 degrees, and it's aimed at pilsners and lagers, and at bocks if you want something heavier.
What you get out of it is a beer with a malty balance and not much else going on, which sounds like faint praise and isn't. A lager yeast is being judged on what it doesn't put in. An ale yeast gives you fruit and spice, and a lager yeast is supposed to get out of the way so the malt and the hops are the only things you can taste.
When to reach for it
Any time you want a crisp beer rather than a characterful one, which means a pilsner or a straight lager. It's also the right call if you've brewed a few ales and they all came out tasting vaguely of the same thing, because that sameness is usually the ale yeast rather than the kit, and swapping to a lager yeast is the fastest way to find out.
The cold part, honestly
This is where most people come unstuck, and it's worth being straight about it. For about half the year a garage or a shed in Strathalbyn sits well above 15 degrees, and a lager yeast held too warm throws the exact fruity esters you picked it to avoid, so you end up with a beer that tastes like a mediocre ale.
The two honest answers are brew your lagers in the cold months and let the weather do it for you, or get a second fridge with a temperature controller on it. We don't sell fridges and we don't sell controllers, so that second one is a conversation for somebody else. What we can sell you is a thermometer, and knowing what your fermenter is actually sitting at is most of the battle, because people are usually surprised by how warm the middle of a fermenting batch runs compared to the room around it.
Patience is the other half
Cold yeast is slow yeast. A lager ferment takes noticeably longer than an ale and then it wants a cold conditioning stretch on top of that, so plan for a couple of extra weeks rather than checking it on day 4 and deciding something has gone wrong. A lager that looks like nothing is happening usually just needs leaving alone.
One sachet does a standard batch. Sprinkle it on, or rehydrate it first if the packet tells you to, and follow what's written on it rather than what's written here, because the manufacturer's instructions win over any blog post including mine.
If it's your first lager
A lager asks for two things an ale doesn't, which are a cold spot and some patience, and nobody is born knowing that. Come and ask in the shop before you buy the kit rather than after, and we'll work out whether the spot you've got in mind is going to hold the temperature.
Shop related products
- S23 Saflager Lager Yeast 11.5g. The yeast this whole post is about.
- Coopers Original Lager 1.7kg. Pale golden, light malt, and a sensible first lager.
- Coopers European Lager 1.7kg. More hop aroma, if you want the beer to say something.
- Thomas Coopers Golden Crown Lager 1.7kg. A firm malty Dortmunder style with a tight head.
Did you know we stock the gear that goes with a lager in the shop even though it isn't on the website. A standard glass thermometer, a 2 scale hydrometer with its test jar, S airlocks, the long handled spoon, dextrose in everything from 1kg up to 5kg, and Hersbrucker hop pellets, which are worth knowing about because we don't carry Saaz or Hallertau and Hersbrucker is the one to reach for in their place. Give us a ring on (08) 8536 4333 to check what's on the shelf.
The rest of the brewing range is in our homebrew collection, and Brewhilder will talk you through a kit if you'd rather start there.
- How to brew a lager at home
- What fermentation actually does, and how to keep yeast happy
- What makes homebrew beer taste off, and how to stop it
I'm still the person who checks the airlock every time I walk past it, which does absolutely nothing for the beer and quite a lot for me.
Cheers,
Candeece
