US-05 used for Lager styles?

[Dan]

Ive noticed a few recipes on here where guys have used US05 when brewing a Lager style beer. Even saw an Emerson's Pilsner clone that used this yeast.  Just wondering whether the reason for this was more to do with the ease of use, ie not needing as colder temps, shorter fermentation times etc or whether it is more of a taste thing?

I know this is a pretty clean ale yeast and I imagine it would give a pretty smooth "lager" style beer even though I suppose its wouldnt really be a lager.

Im interested in feedback on this as  Im keen to do a few more pilsners but weather getting warmer and my shed is out of the 12 deg lager yeast ferment zone.
 

Cheers

[Richard Jack]

You've pretty much got it, lagers are hard and we all get lazy sometimes.

[Hamish Jones]

I've used it a few times, I tried out a lager and split the batch one with S23 and one with US05, other than fermentation speed very similar results, you can actually make a pretty good fake lager with it, and the bonus of not needing to worry so much about temp control

[Kelly Milligan]

The really interesting thing about US-05 is that it will actually grow and ferment fine as low as like 14c, and as you can imagine the yeast character it produces just gets cleaner and cleaner as you go lower! It does however attenuate a bit more than most lager yeasts which can be an issue depending on the Lager style you're trying to replicate ;)

[Dan]

Thanks for feedback guys. Im gonna give it a go this weekend with a Motueka/ Rakau hopped AG "fake" Pilsner! Cheers

[MrC]

I've used US-05 for psuedo pilsners many times and they come out great.  Just keep the ferm temp low, around 15C, and it'll be great.

[Nathan Murrell]

Was going to try a pils for my next recipe, but now my keg is getting low I think I'll do it this way with us-05 so I dont run dry ;) Maybe split a later batch and try a comparison of yeasts.