Fermented at 55 for 8 days, then at 68 for a week for a diacetyl rest. From what i have been reading, seems like you only need to DR for a couple days. it has stopped bubbling. Was going to cold crash for a couple weeks at 35. What do you think?
Isn’t a diacetyl rest supposed to help the yeast finish out a little more as well as clean up the esters? Is the gravity where you want it? Seems like 3-5 days would be sufficient.
Was the primary fermentation slowing significantly before you brought it up to 68? And did you make a starter or no?
8 Days is not a long primary at 55, especially with no starter. I would be worried that you brought it up too soon and produced esters and diacetyl.
If you pitched the correct amount of yeast, my guess is it was a little early but not beer threatening. Get it down to 35F and forget about it for a couple of months…
Dave
It appears that you have done a few lagers, so assuming those turned out fine, I would follow your plan, but I tend to primary for a month and then keg without any D-rest.
I usually let the beer rest at 65F or so for at least three days. A couple of more days would ensure the cleanup and certainly wouldn’t hurt. You should sample the beer to verify the diacetyl has been removed. Lagering at 34F for a month will help refine this flavor as well.
i ususally ferment at around 50 degrees for all my lagers for 4 weeks. then i will bring up for a few days and bottle for two weeks at room temp. then cold storage for 2-3 months at 34-36 ish. this is new for me. i used to cold storage first for three months then package but i am changing it up a bit.
+1 here Ron. It tastes great. It is in the hands of the gods as i cold crashed. It’ll stay there for at least a month and wont come out till it knows what it has done. Thanks all.
Sounds like everything is under control. However I agree with the guys above and primary for at least 3 weeks. 8 days seems a bit short to me, even with a large starter. But if the beer is good, why change anything! ;D
Things had slowed down quite a bit after 8 days. I wasnt sure if keeping it at 55 after 3 weeks the yeast would still clean up the diacetyl. Some folks talk about dropping the temp 2 degrees/day after a DR.
Guess I need to learn a little more about the lagering process.
7-10 days is about when an average-gravity lager reaches FG, IME.
A diacetyl rest isn’t necessary at all if your fermentation procedure is sound.
If you pitch the proper amount of clean healthy yeast, and pitch cold…say you want your final ferm temp to be 50, pitch at 46 then slowly allow the beer to rise to 50. After 2-3 weeks keg, lager and youre done. This is the Narziss method.
When you need a diacetyl rest…if you pitch warm…say 62 and then lower your temp to 50, you will want to do a diacetyl rest for 3-5 days. between 62 and 68 is fine. Then you will want to SLOWLY lower the temp down to lagering temps.
Hope this helps!
+1
Diacetyl is produced by yeast then consumed by the yeast during the conditioning phase. Some yeasts produce more diacetyl then others but they all produce some amount of it. It is important to have a healthy pitch of yeast, ideally in the 60’s for ales and 45-50 for lagers. A healthy fermentation is a key factor, as it will allow for the yeast to do a proper cleanup of diacetyl and other undesirable fermentation by-products. If diacetyl is still present in the beer after fermentation then and only then would I recommend a D-rest.
To some extent that depends on the yeast strain, though. The Czech lager strains tend not to produce much diacetyl, but with 34/70 or 206 it may be necessary.
That may be the case. I must admit that I only have experience with 3 lager strains, but in those 3 I have never had an issue with diacetyl using the Narziss method.
True, it’s probably finished and if a D-Rest is necessary, then agreed a good time to raise it up. I’ve not been doing D-Rests but have been away from 2206 per your post below. I’ve been using 2308, 2035 and 2124. The last light lager I used 2206 for I did a 4 day D-Rest, but after a 16 day primary…
Dave
2206 is one of the ones I use frequently, never needed a Drest ime.
OK check this out. http://scottishcraftbrewers.org/?p=805
I think my next lager i will ferment a little longer and do the “Forced Diacetyl Test”. I did an american light lager a couple months back. It tasted great when i first bottled but after sitting around it has developed diacetyl. Guess it had acetolactate?
I happened to look it up on the Wyeast website when using for a Becks clone just to see it’s stats. It recommended a D-Rest so I went with it. I’ve heard several since that, like you, have not done one with it with good results. Brew and learn…
You got it Dave! And my experience may be different than yours. If a D-rest works for you and you like the results, go with it!
That’s actually my experience too. The conventional wisdom is that it’s a big diacetyl producer though.
OTOH I start ramping up the temperatures on all my beers after a few days, so it’s been a while since I haven’t done a “diacetyl rest”.