Slightly higher secondary ferm temp (40 instead of 36)

[tamparob]

Greetings,

I found an Oktoberfest recipe that I was wanting to brew and the secondary fermentation temp is about 4 degrees F lower than my chiller will go. My chiller can only go down to 40 F and the recipe calls for 36 F for two weeks. Primary is at 54 F for a week.

WLP820 Oktoberfest/Marzen Lager Yeast
Optimum temp for the yeast is: 52-58

What kind of effect, if any, do you think the 4 degrees difference will have on the beer by maintaining 40 F, instead of 36 F?

http://www.brewingwithbriess.com/Recipes/beer/display/oktoberfest

 

[Beer_Pirate]

As long as you're lagering outside the active temperature for the yeast (and it appears you would be), I wouldn't think there's any appreciable difference.

 

[Nosybear]

It'll work fine, you may just have to lager longer. Wait until your beer is bright and lager it another couple weeks.

 

[J A]

It'll continue to "lager" in the bottles or keg so you could probably keep it at a lower temp than you would while still in the carboy or bucket. Also, I wouldn't assume that any yeast would finish and clean up flavor-wise in just a week at 54F. At least take a gravity reading before you drop to lagering temps.