Butterscotch in my Oktoberfest!

Brewed an oktoberfest in july. Left in primary for 1 month at 50 deg F. Raised to 67 deg F for 3 days, then racked to secondary for 1 month at 50 deg F. Been in the keg (at 50) for 7 weeks and I couldn't take the temptation any longer, so I tried a glass.. and was nearly bowled over by the diacetyl. Obviously the diacetyl rest wasn't long enough. Is there anything I can do now to reduce it?

Boy, I don't think so. The yeast are what eats the diacetyl- so once you remove it from the yeast cake, I don't see how it could do the job.

I hope someone else with another idea comes along for you. I'd really like to find out if there is a way to do it.

Of course, you'll be more prepared next time. I always taste the lagers before doing the d-rest (sometimes it's not needed) and always do it when the fermentation is 75% done. Then, I rack and leave it in secondary until finished (or a couple of weeks if it's already done), and then lager at 34 degrees by gradually dropping the temp. I taste it every step of the way, looking for diacetyl. There was a great how to in a book (maybe John Palmer's How to Brew?) on how to see if diacetyl is still present that involves two samples- one to boil, one not and then compare. I'll see if I can dig it up. Of course, that doesn't help now but it's for next time.

You could always name it your ButterscotchOkfest!

j/k... Other than taking it out for another d-rest (which may not work), I don't really know what to tell you...

I just solved this myself with my Pilsner. Racked to secondary before I had a diacetyl rest. Blown over by the diacetyl. So, I took it out of the lagerator, and placed it under my desk (near the heater vent) where I let it warm to a nice 72-75˚F for 4 days. No worries about esterification, since the yeast is mostly already gone. Anyway, stuck it back in the fridge for a week, tried some today, and delicious! Diacetyl is gone!

I posted this a couple weeks ago.

May not help with your current situation, but gives some good context around the whole problem.

It seems that yeast is the only thing that can re-absorb and clean up the diacetyl. I wonder if you were to re-introduce some freash yeast, if it would clean up your problem.

Thanks all for the help. I was thinking of reintroducing a some yeast to see what might happen - Couldn't be any worse than the flavor now. I'll post again in a week or so with an update. BierMuncher, thanks for the link. There is a lot of good stuff there - it will take a few HB's to work through that diagram!

Well, I let the Oktoberfest come back to cellar temp and pitched a package of Safeale 04. It had steady airlock activity for a week. I chilled it to help settle the yeast for a few days. Just tried a sample...NO DIACETYL.

Cool..

Wow, glad to hear that! I've been lucky in that area, but if it ever happens to me, now I'll know what to do!

Awesome! I bet it will be great after you lager it.