D-rest question

Hi all....I have a Pils in the primary at 52-53*, I'm getting close to where a d-rest would be done. My problem (if it is a problem) is that the temp in my basement,which is where the fermentor is in the chest freezer, is sitting at around 60*. I could bring the carboy upstairs, but I'm concerned about sloshing it around and stirring things up. Can I...or should I ...just leave it in the primary for a longer period of time and then put it in the secondary for lagering..or rack it and lager it on schedule? Thanks

Wino24 said:

Hi all....I have a Pils in the primary at 52-53*, I'm getting close to where a d-rest would be done. My problem (if it is a problem) is that the temp in my basement,which is where the fermentor is in the chest freezer, is sitting at around 60*. I could bring the carboy upstairs, but I'm concerned about sloshing it around and stirring things up. Can I...or should I ...just leave it in the primary for a longer period of time and then put it in the secondary for lagering..or rack it and lager it on schedule? Thanks

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Sixty degrees might be perfect for the diaceyl rest. You could try putting it on top of the chest freezer, where it might be a degree or two warmer, but I think it'll be fine. After the diacetyl rest, and the beer is at FG with no hint of diacetyl, it can be racked and lagering begun.

Thanks for the reply Yooper...I had planned on putting on top of the chest freezer for the d-rest, but wasn't sure if the 60* temp was too low. Thanks again

Lagering can be begun before it's racked if you want to leave more yeast behind in the primary.

DSmith said:

Lagering can be begun before it's racked if you want to leave more yeast behind in the primary.

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Well, not if you're doing a full diacetyl rest anyway. Then it's just as easy to rack and begin the lagering.

Yooper said:

Well, not if you're doing a full diacetyl rest anyway. Then it's just as easy to rack and begin the lagering.

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I'm not sure I follow. My understanding is that a diacetyl rest should be done prior to racking and finish up the fermenation. You can choose to rack at the diacetly rest temperature or at lagering temperature. Racking at lagering temperature would crash more yeast out and result in less sediment in the secondary. Either option is the same amount of work.

The beer is on the yeast longer if you rack at lagering temperature. Up to 10 days longer if you ramp down slowly.

DSmith said:

I'm not sure I follow. My understanding is that a diacetyl rest should be done prior to racking and finish up the fermenation. You can choose to rack at the diacetly rest temperature or at lagering temperature. Racking at lagering temperature would crash more yeast out and result in less sediment in the secondary. Either option is the same amount of work.

The beer is on the yeast longer if you rack at lagering temperature. Up to 10 days longer if you ramp down slowly.

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It's easiest because you don't ramp down the temperature, take it back out of the lagerator, rack, and put it back down to lagering temps back in the fridge. I hope that makes sense! The amount of yeast in the carboy after lagering isn't all that significant, even with a crystal clear lager.

I am not a fan of keeping the beer on the yeast cake past the diacetyl rest.

I go directly to cold crash after the D rest. Let the yeast finish it's job, then chill them down and drop them out.

Makes a nice, firm cake to rack off of.

My lager temperature & attenuation (graph below). Diacetyl rest at 75% to expected gravity, ended up a little short of expected gravity and raised the temperature a little more to prove to myself it was finished.

It'll get racked this weekend after a few days at 34F.

Ramp down vs. cold crashing & racking warm vs. cool are personal preferences/habits that are almost impossible to prove if they benefited or hurt the beer.

DSmith said:

Ramp down vs. cold crashing & racking warm vs. cool are personal preferences/habits that are almost impossible to prove if they benefited or hurt the beer.

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QFT. My own practice is to d-rest at room temp, then rack after about a week, then crash cool. Part of the reason for this is that I tend to ferment my lagers in 10g wine fermenters with a relatively loose-fitting lid so I can take a gravity reading easily to time the d-rest right (don't worry, every time the lid gets removed I flood the fermenter with CO2). So the fermenter comes out, d-rest happens, then a racking, then lagering which yes, does result in some sediment in the secondary. I tend to clear with gelatin then rack into a keg for "real" lagering, although sometimes the beer is in the secondary for extended periods of time.