Too late for Diacetyl rest after lagering?

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TimBrewz

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So, I made (am trying to) an American Light Lager. I used Wyeast 2007 (Budweiser yeast) fermented at 48-50f. Dropped from 1.040 to 1.008 in 3 weeks, tasted it- seemed perfect. Racked to secondary, chilled to 35f for 3 weeks now. I just tasted it and it tastes like beer poured over buttered popcorn-serious diacetyl. I have made lots of lagers and had always done a d-rest. On this one I did not (I have no idea what went on in the brain that day) and now I have this liquid butter.

SO,EVEN AFTER 3 WEEKS LAGERING CAN I STILL DO A D-REST?

Hoping that I can still do a D-rest, I just moved the carboy from the 35 degree fridge to my 58 degree basement, there is still a decent layer of yeast on the bottom, so I am hoping that those yeast will reactivate and clean up the diacetyl. Any thoughts?

Thanks, Tim
 
"Beer that hasn't fully completed the initial fermentation step is likely to have a slick buttery taste to it, an indicator that more time is needed to complete the fermentation." I seriously doubt the diacetyl was produced in the secondary at 32F.

Sounds to me like you pitched your yeast before the wort cooled down low enough and the higher temperatures let the yeast produce a lot of diacetyl early on. Without giving the rest the diacetyl never gets cleaned up.

Moving them to a warmer temperature should do the trick and allow the yeast to remove the diacetyl, let us know how this turns out for you.

I just started drinking 4 different lagers I fermented at a constant 50F for 25 days, over days 26 to 28 I let the temperature rise to 60F and they came out fine.
 
Thanks Screwy, I was able to get the yeast reactivated and the diacetyl is getting cleaned up. When I racked and put into the fridge, the SG was 1.007, I figured that was the FG, but after 4 days at 60f, airlock is moving a bit and the beer is down to 1.004.
 
I seriously doubt the diacetyl was produced in the secondary at 32F.

From this BYO article: http://***********/stories/wizard/a...tyl-a-targeting-strike-temperatures-mr-wizard

"I think what is happening is that you are picking up some oxygen during your racking step and the oxygen converts diacetyl precursor (i.e. alpha acetolactate) in the green beer into diacetyl during lagering."

I've also had lagers that tasted great after D-rest become D-bombs during lagering.

To the OP; I had a similar problem and dealt with it in a different way I think will be successful:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/will-work-205761/
 
Thanks, that is a very good article. I think I was lucky to have enough yeast in the secondary to clean up the diacetyl. However, if there is still an issue after the next few days, I will try the krausen method.
 
It worked! Racked and kegged with only the faintest hint of diacetyl. My BMC drinking friends will think its great.
 
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