brewing a Maine beer - managing diacetyl
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So a couple of breweries in Maine are apparently big on ringwood yeast, known for its diacetyl character - butter/butterscotch/caramel flavors. Shipyard brews a version of 'Old Thumper' here that's a butterbomb, and a little over the top in my opinion, but Gritty McDuff's has a bunch of beers (classic pub style pale, best bitter, best brown, halloween ale) that all have this distinctive character, and it's moderate enough to not be overpowering at all - and I really like them all.
So in reading a bunch of reviews of gritty's beers written by those with more experienced palates than my own, I first found out that this character was most likely due to ringwood yeast. Of course I can buy ringwood online pretty easily, but I am a little unsure of how to properly use it. I know diacetyl is considered an off-flavor in many styles, and I don't want it to be overwhelming. I have read a bit about using ringwood and heard mention of doing a diacetyl rest with it in ales - which was surprising, as I've only ever heard of doing that with lagers, and seems strange when ales are already fermenting at warmer temperatures. On the other hand, I see that a number of other beers like IPA's are done with ringwood, but they don't seem to have this diacetyl character, leading me to believe that I have to do things a certain way to achieve it.
Is there a good target temperature to shoot for to get a moderate, but not overwhelming, level of diacetyl, right off the bat, without a diacetyl rest? Or am I likely to need a diacetyl rest to pull it back to the drinkable side of a butterbomb? If so, how does that work with ales? Do I have to bring the temperature DOWN from a normal fermentation in the upper 60's, to something like 60? Do I have to be careful about how long a diacetyl rest I do, for fear of having the yeast clean up too much of the diacetyl on me, or is that something that ringwood yeast isn't likely to do?
Anyway, I would greatly appreciate if anyone could provide any advice on using ringwood yeast effectively to achieve the kind of character I'm going for, without ending up with a butterbomb.
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