Diacetyl Test and Diacetyl Rest Length

[paraordnance]

here is my take on this since I krausened 4 lagers so far.

1) I would suggest to krausen before lagering, since if you do it after you basically have to almost lager it again and wait week or two untill yeast settle down for best results

2) Preferably within reccomended range for the yeast you will use but I have made krausening beer (1 qt) at room temperature with W34/70 with good results, I could not taste any off-flavours probably due to the fact that ammount of beer added is so small

3) Best results with same yeast strains, I have some W34/70 laying around so I use that. Never tried ale yeast but I heard people done that with good results

4) From my experience doesnt matter, I done both room temperature and 50F. At room temp it will finish sooner

5) Actually if you use krausening calculator you can figure out exactly how much krausening beer you need to carb your beer naturally in keg. About 1.5 qt of wort of 1.040 gravity will carbonate keg to 2.5 volumes in 1-2 weeks

6) I used pilsen DME but you can use whatever you have laying around

I also one of those crazy ones who lager on yeast cake with good results, whatever works for you

 

[ayoungrad]

Update on original post:

I just ran another diacetyl test, having left the bucket at 68 for 2 more days. There is only minimal buttered popcorn aroma in the new heated sample. Its possible that I did not heat it long enough as I am in a bit of a hurry. But it looks very promising at day 4 of the rest.

I'm going to let it sit for 2 more days and will recheck on Saturday and I'll let people know...

 

[ayoungrad]

UPDATE

It has now been six days since I started my diacetyl rest:

2 days at 65 had in your face movie theater buttered popcorn diacetyl presence...

SO... I agitated the fermenter and raised the temp to 68...

2 days at 68 resulted in partial improvement in the diacetyl...

2 more days (today) and there is no discernible (at least by me) diacetyl.

So, what conclusion can I draw from this?... Diacetyl test results can be reversed with a diacetyl rest prior to lagering as fermentation is winding down without the need for krausening.

Granted this is essentially an already proven method but its still nice to see it work real-time.

I'm starting to decrease temps as we speak. I can't wait to see how the final product turns out.