Ever since the first time I made an Anchor Steam clone, hence referred to as California Common (CC) It's been one of my favorite homebrews. I have made this beer at least once that was indistinguishable from Anchor Steam in colour aroma and taste (abv I'm not sure on ). My interest has mostly to do with the yeast strain (WLP810, Wyeast 2112)I've made this recipe at 62F and at 58F, with and without lagering. Since I've moved my ability to control temperatures is more limited. I can maintain 60F but not any lower and reaching higher is hard as well. I haven't directly compared a lagered batch with a non-lagered batch so I can't be sure as to the actual benefit of lagering; btw I also can't lager at the moment. What steps can I take to ensure a repeatably consistent result with a hybrid style beer?
it seems like you can maintain 60f fine. That's just about perfect for a cal common. I would use a water bath if you have no other temp control means. That will keep the temp more stable.Keep it on the yeast for 3 weeks to give them a chance to clean up any possible off flavors, then give it another 3 weeks to condition, and I think it will be good.
When you say you can maintain 60F, do you mean ambient or wort temperature? If the former, be aware that your wort temp can be significantly higher than ambient (and variable) during fermentation. If the latter, i.e. you can maintain the wort at a specific temperature, why is it hard to go lower or higher? i.e. how are you doing it?
It sounds to me like you might be anticipating a problem that isn't there. It's not clear from your post that you have tried to brew this recipe at your new locale. Why not brew a batch, aiming for the lowest temp you can achieve in a practical manner at your new place and see how the beer comes out. Since Anchor is pretty widely available, you'll be able to compare tastes to your previous batches with a reference and evaluate the yeast performance under your new conditions.
