ALDC enzyme for stopping diacetyl formation

1

Has anyone used the ALDC enzyme to reduce diacetyl formation? I am mostly concerned with diacetyl formation due to dry hop creep. Will it work if added at the end of fermentation when I dry hop? I ask because pH is lower at that point.

2

I’ve never used it but I am semi familiar with it. It appears it is stable down to 4.0pH. Most beers won’t finish that low. I think it’s worth a try. Are you experiencing issues with VDK/diacetyl?

3

One IPA I make uses 6.6 ounces of dry hop per 5 gallons. I previously posted about the hop creep. I messed up and let the hops sit for >2 weeks at >70F I had hop creep. Now I dry hop it at 60F for three days then cold crash 34 f for 6 days then keg and bottle. I am not concerned with hop creep leading to diacetyl for the kegged as they are kept at 34 F. My concern is for the bottled beer. While I store it at less than 60 F, my friends may not and I don’t want them to have buttery bottled beer. Knowing that the catalyst works down to pH 4 helps a lot thank you. Even if they store the IPA warm, with the catalyst there will not be a buttery flavor. It may be over carbonated :frowning:

thanks again knowing it works down to 4 is a big help.

4

As long as there’s still yeast in suspension VDK/diacetyl will eventually get cleaned up. The problem comes when dropping the yeast by cold crashing/fining before it gets cleaned up. If you want you can do a forced diacetyl test as I highly doubt anyone here has the equipment to test for it. Here’s how you do it:

  1. take a small sample and heat it to about 140° ( DO NOT BOIL AS IT WILL DRIVE OFF THE DIACETYL)
  2. let sample cool back to room temp
  3. smell and taste
    I wonder if it would help to bottle condition as the active yeast might clean some of the diacetyl up…
    I once made a lager that at kegging was very clean. Lagered it and sampled - diacetyl bomb! At a loss I decided to take a package of 34/70 and add it back to the keg at room temp. Waited a week- diacetyl GONE. I couldn’t believe it actually worked. But that beer ended up great- very clean and crisp.
5

Lagers are aged for a reason

6

I like diacetyl, wish I could make it when I wanted it. I’ve never had it in had it in any of my IPAs though and it doesn’t sound like a good combo

7

The only non-commercial size ALDC enzyme I could find was only $3 + shipping so why not try it?
Maturation Accelerator Enzymes – BEERMKR They are calling it a “Maturation Accelerator” though. Won’t work on us guys because we never mature :smile:

3 Likes
8

yep that’s what I ordered thanks.