Repitching after Lagering?

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ctaylor73

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I'm not sure the outcome and effects of this, but can I pitch yeast into an Oktoberfest after it had been lagered for three weeks?

My FG was 1.020 and I got a wild hair to try to dry it out a bit but not sure if it's possible. I assume slowly bring the temp back up to 50 degrees and pitch for 10 days. Diacetyl rest at 60 again for two days then re-lager for three more weeks. Champagne yeast is the obvious answer but that will eat all available sugars and parts of the keg-too dry I'm afraid. I would like to try to bring it down 8-10 points if at all possible and am considering pitching the same yeast used to brew the beer, Munich Lager from Wyeast. Oxygen issues, is there enough sugars left for this strain, yeast viability in the alcohol, off flavors, ect are my concern and I have no idea how to calculate the potential effects of pitching one smack pack. Any suggestions?
 
1.020 is a little high for a Marzen, but not ridiculously high. I'd bring the temp back up for a diacetyl rest anyway and I bet you'll get damn close to 1.016. If that doesn't work, go ahead and pitch more of the same yeast, sure. Don't go overboard, but it's not really going to hurt anything.
 
If you think the yeast stalled out build up a starter of the primary yeast strain and repitch. If it finished fermenting the champagne yeast wouldn't help any.
 
Derrr. I've had too many ESBs... You're already lagering so your diacetyl rest is finished. Anyway, bring it back up to fermenting temps because you're going to have to anyway. Give it a few days and see if it drops any. If it doesn't, do what jeep suggested.
 
Depending on what your OG was, I'd be tempted to just leave it. You are off the normal Oktoberfest FG by only a few points. You could easily make things worse by starting to mess around with it. If you f'd up and started with a 1.040 wort, then I'd suggest an attempt to fix may be worthwhile. If you f'd up and started with a 1.065 wort, leave it alone. If you happened to hit the middle to high side of the gravity range for the style, I'd really just leave it be. If you're way down in 1.050 territory, you really have a decision to make.

Next time pitch enough yeast and don't fool around with it until you hit 8 points or so over target FG. Then do your d-rest at room temperature (60 is ok, but there is no downside to going higher) until you hit OG. There's a reason starter kits come with a hydrometer instead of a calendar--you can't go by number of days when it comes to fermenting lagers. You go by hydrometer readings.
 
I appreciate the replies everyone. Thanks for the advise.

Osagedr,
I started at 1.060 so my FG is not far off at all. Its close to where it should be. Im actually at .19. The reason I ask is because after lagering(which is where I am now) I got a wild hair to try to dry it out a bit more, say closer to .12 or lower. Im not sure if its possible without screwing things up. Hence this post. I appreciate your time and reply.
 

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