Baltic Porter - Ale or Lager?

Except on these boards, of course!

 

From 2015 guidelines, 9c Baltic Porter, Charactistic Ingredients “Generally lager yeast (cold fermented if using ale yeast, as is required when brewed in Russia).“

They are often lagered , i.e. stored, but it doesn’t say that is required.

Can you clarify?

 

If it's made like a Lager, then it's a Lager. It's kind of like a Killer Whale is not a whale, it's a dolphin. Just like a Jerusalem Artichoke is not an artichoke.

 

But killer whales and dolphins are both whales. OK, not everyone will agree with that, so as a metaphor for beer it's perfect.

 

If ball players didn't wear ballcaps what would we call them? If ales weren't brewed with ale yeast what would ale yeast be called?

 

Just giving a different perspective

 

Yeast was just yeast back in the day. If lager had been brewed then it would be called Porter yeast as most beer was Porter. But when there needed to be a distinction ,Ales were the predominant brew.

 

Saccharomyces cerevisiae... which is also known as "baker's yeast"... but if a beer brewer uses it, it will not mean that the resulting beer is a bread. That's the problem with the way that beer folks have interpreted "ale yeast." Since people seem to really want rigidity, it ends up being a bad term that creates confusion... but it's just so awfully convenient to use.

 

So, Doppelbock brewers use baker's yeast?

 

I would hope that they're using S.Uvarum in that case.

There are certainly two distinct species; it's the colloquialisms ale vs.lager, top vs. bottom fermenting, that get inaccurate around the edges.

 

It would probably be S. pastorianus, but the point should be taken that ale and lager yeast are two different species within the Saccharomyces genus.

For more fun reading about lager yeast, see here, under the "Genomics" heading.

 

I'm too old school for that. I still say Centigrade, too.

 

Perhaps it's time to return to the traditional "Magic Stick" days?

https://oct.co/essays/stick-begat-beer-godisgood-kveik-kveikstokk

 

It would certainly produce more interesting beer. Oddly, some kviek cultures have been shown to be only one strain of yeast, even though there was no proper isolation occurring.

 

Some wine yeasts are 'killer' strains; I wonder if this is the result of something similar.

 

And some saison strains are from the wine clade, so that might make sense, but killer strains basically only affect yeast of the same species that are "killer sensitive". It's much more complicated than that, but that's a decent way to think about the situation.

 

Jeez, guys... it was a joke (see lent doppelbock...).

 

Had a Baltic Porter tonight, it tasted just like an ale, a lager, and a beer!

Enjoyed this thread...

 

I think this is the only thing people really need to hear on the matter.

 

Are you saying that "lagering" means storing? That is an interesting interpretation.