Diacetyl Rests

[BeaverBarber]

You guys seem to be talking about lagers but I have been getting diacetyl taste with the past 5 pale ales I've done, I haven't done the diacetyl test but I have let all of'em sit in the carboy for at least 2 weeks and raised the temp a few degrees at the end.

My solution, no more pale ales, I never get diacetyl with any other beer I brew

Are you using a highly flocculant yeast or fermenting so cool that a medium flocculator is dropping out of suspension too soon?

[brewinhard]

I have been having good luck with pitching my lagers around 48F. 90 seconds of O2 with a .5 micron stone. I then ferment (based on OG) at 48-49F for about 7-9 days. When the krausen starts to drop back into the beer, I slowly raise the ferment temps by 2 deg./day until I reach about 65F. Then I take it out of the fridge and bring it inside my house to clean up any remaining diacetyl (if there even is any, I have not picked up any myself) for 2-3 days at room temps (68-70F). I then crash cool for about 2 days, then closed transfer to a keg. Lager 4-6 weeks depending on style, carbonate and ENJOY DAILY!!

That's exactly what I want to try except the closed transfer to a keg because I didn't think of that. Are you filtering at the same time? Do you think that filtering will hurt the lagering process? Logic tells me that the yeast usefulness has run its course, and it will actually help get rid of some of the haze causing proteins. Thanks for sharing your process.

No filtration going on at my house. I am just not that cool (yet). I have been adding gelatin for finings (as per Ozwald's and Bdawgs recommendations) to the keg before purging and racking the chilled beer on top via closed transfer.

[ScottyB-Brewing]

You guys seem to be talking about lagers but I have been getting diacetyl taste with the past 5 pale ales I've done, I haven't done the diacetyl test but I have let all of'em sit in the carboy for at least 2 weeks and raised the temp a few degrees at the end.

My solution, no more pale ales, I never get diacetyl with any other beer I brew

Are you using a highly flocculant yeast or fermenting so cool that a medium flocculator is dropping out of suspension too soon?

On all but the last one I used Cali WLP001 and on the last one that had hardly any diacetyl (some bottles it's undetectable) I used Nottingham. The Nottingham one I didn't raise the temp at the end I just left it at 67 degrees the whole time.

It's just bothers me that I never had to worry about diacetyl with my red ales, stouts or anything else I do except those past 5 pale ales. Is it just easier to detect diacetyl with pale ales than it is with other beers perhaps?

[Bugeater]

I've had problems with diacetyl in my pale beers in the past. I finally traced it back to the use of pilsner malt. Once I switched to a 90 minute boil for those beers the problem went away.

[brewinhard]

I've had problems with diacetyl in my pale beers in the past. I finally traced it back to the use of pilsner malt. Once I switched to a 90 minute boil for those beers the problem went away.

I believe diacetyl is more fermentation based. Sure it wasn't DMS you were picking up from not boiling the pilsner malt long enough?

[spiderwrangler]

Diacetyl is the problem of the impatient brewer.

[scotchpine]

I do not brew lagers yet and only seem to have diacetyl isuues with light color ales. Especially batches that use good amounts of adjuncts like flaked rye and flaked barley in my cases. I always perform a D-rest on all my batches just to be safe.

[gwk453]

Lagers..........Boil the snot out the wort! Pitch at a higher rate!
You really need to have the extended time to ferment at lower temps. If you have only one fridge to ferment, your brewing can come to a halt for 4-8 weeks, but if you are lucky and have an air conditioned room to ferment your ales in, life is still good.

Lagers aren't for the impatient.


Gary