Lager Diacetyl Rest

I'm brewing my first lager and just finished the diacetyl rest for 48 hrs, but I'm thinking that I should have let it rest a few days longer before racking it to the secondary due to the fact that judging from the airlock it seems like it completely stopped fermenting. The OG was at 1.050 and the FG is supposed to be 1.012. I began the 48 hr d-rest at 1.022 and brought the temp from 47F up to 64F. After the 48 hrs passed I unfortunately went into autopilot and racked the beer to the secondary before taking another gravity reading. When I eventually checked the gravity in the secondary I was surprised to see that the d-rest only dropped the gravity down by 2 points (i.e. - 1.020).

Now I have the lager back in the fridge at 60F in the secondary with not a lot of yeast and zero airlock activity. The airlock actually was bubbling a bit for the first hour or so, but then it basically stopped. So, now I'm not sure if I should just leave it alone and gradually bring it down to lagering temp or if I should maybe bring the temperature back up to 65F for a few days to help the yeast get going again?

Nothing you are describing sounds terribly unusual to me. Drop it back to lagering temps for at least a week and check the gravity again then.

should the diacetyl smell go away before I drop it to lagering temps? I am just raisiing mine up to the 60 degree range.

beeboy said:

should the diacetyl smell go away before I drop it to lagering temps? I am just raisiing mine up to the 60 degree range.

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I've never noticed a diacetyl smell. But if you do a diacetyl rest for 48 hours, that should allow plenty of time for the diacetyl to be reabsorbed.

I wouldn't lower the temperature for lagering until the beer has been at FG for at least a couple of days. So, for the OP, keep it warm until the SG isn't dropping. Ideally, it would be at FG before being racked but it may be able to finish up as long as the temperature isn't lowered.

Thanks guys - it looks like the yeast is doing its thing again. I have it at about 58F right now and the airlock's spittin' a bubble per minute, so I think I'm back in business.