We brewed up our first lager (Oktoberfest all grain) on Sunday, 8/13. I made the mistake of pitching the yeast too warm ( about 65 deg), but immediately after pitching it went into the 51 deg chamber. We pitched 3 packs of wyeast 2633, 2 in starters (1 liter ) and one pack direct pitched.
There was lots of active fermentation going on right through day 8. Then the yeast seemed to fall to the bottom, but still regular activity in the airlock. So I am hoping we are heading towards good beer and the yeast is still working.
I know the "d- rest " is sometimes optional, but since I screwed up and pitched above fermentation temp I think the d-rest is mandatory for me.
I have quite a bit of work travel this week and next, so I am wondering how long I can wait before bringing the temp up for the d- rest. I don’t want to rush this beer but I don’t want to damage it by waiting too long.
If I don’t do the d rest this coming Friday-Monday, then I would have to wait until the following Friday ( sept 1) to start it.
I would like to wait till sept 1 if possible as I think that would give the yeast more time to do its magic. That would mean it was in the primary fermentation stage for about 20 days before doing the d- rest.
I brew a lot of lagers and the main thing is don’t rush it. I let mine ferment for two weeks before I do a d-rest even with a healthy starter. To be honest the beer taste better in my opinion letting it ferment 2 weeks at least. If your going to be gone and the beer sets in the fermenter 20 days no big deal. You got a nice blanket of co2 on top the beer. It’s a lager so in a way your lagering it a bit before your d-rest. Just don’t rush it
I agree with Damian for the most part. No reason to rush it…unless you’re in a rush…haha…
I’d start the d rest before you leave given what you’ve said about the krauesen having already fallen. I let mine rise to room temperature and stay there until I’m ready to keg.
I went through a timing thing with a D rest with a lager recently because of a short vacation, and had to delay the rest. I did a search and the general consensus was it’s better to do the D rest with fermentation still winding down, but if that’s not possible, to do it late is better than skipping it altogether.
That’s been my MO but to really accomplish a D rest you need a fair bit of active yeast right? Technically speaking shouldn’t you do it when you’re at about 80% attenuation?
Well I looked at 5am and still had activity in the airlock so I decided to split the difference and I will be home between trips late Thursday night. I will bring the temp up 10-12 degrees then and let it sit for 8-9 days then put it in a keg and lager it. Hopefully that will all work out ok.
I was just reading on the plane in palmers book and he goes to the d rest pretty quick.
Correct. To do it optimally, checking a SG would be necessary, to catch it close to 80% attenuation. Most of us probably try to time it from experience after a while(at least that is what I do).
I’ll try not to get all scientific with this and point out a few things. First diacetyl reduction still happens at lower temps. It’s really slow happening but still does reduce the diacetyl at lower temps. Second by raising the temps makes yeast more active and speeds the process up. But doing this to early will cause the yeast to produce off flavor that the yeast wouldn’t normally produce at lager temps. You should start your diacetyl rest around 2 to 5 points from your expected final gravity for two days. It don’t take much. That’s why I ferment my lagers for 2 weeks at lager temps. The 2 points happens while I do my rest and the beer taste better much better . Like I said don’t rush it. Doing a rest at 80 percent is little over kill and still enough gravity point to cause off flavors in your beer. Im not saying that this is wrong and I’m not saying that won’t get great tasting beer doing it that early. Just that you can run a chance of your yeast producing off flavors that will change the taste of your beer
My lagers always come out clean doing like @damian_winter I ferment at 50 for two weeks then just pull it and set it on the basement floor usually low 60s for a week or more then cold crash at 30deg for a couple days then rack to a keg. I may or may not let it sit in the keg at cellar temps for awhile or cold storage if I have room or its cold outside. If you can keep it cold the whole time lagering is great but I process alot of beers and they go in and out of cold storage and come out well either way. So what I’m trying to say is do whatever works best for your schedule gonna come out great either way. I’ve lagered while I’ve drank it also in a pinch
Thanks for all the info, I started to bring the temp up this morning. It will be slow as the freezer is pretty well insulated. So I will bring it to 62 deg or so and let it sit until next weekend, then cold crash it for a couple of days then into a keg. Which means I may need to buy my 4th keg now unless my son finishes up his Saison he has been nursing…
Sneezles61