Weird flavor in lager

I made a lager pretty basic average gravity all went fairly smooth. Its been in the secondary at 40° for the past month. Checked the gravity last night and then drank the sample. It wasn't bubble gum but something is off. Should I bottle and let sit or keep in secondary at 40° for a while. Any tips thoughts? Thanks in advance!

HD

Did you do a Diacetyl Rest? Is the flavor buttery?

no. and kinda buttery.

That's probably where you're getting the flavor (if it's buttery). Depending on how cool you kept the fermentation temps it might just be some esters too. Getting rid of the diacetyl is probably not an option now. I would leave it in the secondary for a week or 2 more, and then bottle. It just might slowly decrease with some aging. In the future, be sure to maintain cold, steady fermentation temperatures and taste for diacetyl right before the fermentation is complete. If you taste any butter, raise the temp to 65-70 for a couple days before crashing it to lagering temps.

Beside the diactyl as mentioned above....are you actually lagering it in secondary? If so at what temp?

If you've got some diacetyl, I'd stop the lagering now and bring it up to 65 degrees and see if you can clean it up. It'll only get worse if it's diacetyl and you don't do a diacetyl rest.

40°f the entire secondary time of 4 weeks.

Thanks guys. I've got it out of cooler. I should let the temp rise to 65-70 for 2 days, then crash temp back to 40 for how long?

Hawkdiesel said:

Thanks guys. I've got it out of cooler. I should let the temp rise to 65-70 for 2 days, then crash temp back to 40 for how long?

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Let the temp stay at 68 or so until the off flavor is gone. It might take a while, since you've already racked off of the yeast. The diacetyl rest should be done long before lagering, before racking the beer. You may not have enough yeast to do the job at this point, but give it a try.

Well it's gonna need to get up to d-rest temps, so I would leave it til monday or tuesday myself. Taste it and see if it's gone. It's prolly gonna take a day to warm up sufficiently and the yeasts are gonna need to wake up...

Good news, you guys saved my lager. Thank you so much! Now the only question is do I bottle or lager in secondary at 40 for awhile longer?

thanks for the help with my lager. Things are looking better. I do need just a bit more help. What now? Bottle or back into refrigerator?

How clear is the beer now? If it is clear and tastes very clean you could bottle, if it is still a little green tasting and/or a bit cloudy I would say lager a second time until it is clear.