Is it bad to do a diacetyl rest after transferring to secondary?

[rockout]

I just moved my Mexican Pilsner from primary to secondary and realized I screwed up - the instructions said to bring it up to 60 degrees first for 1-2 days, then transfer.

So after transferring, I brought it up to 60-65 degrees for about 36 hours. i'm now cooling it down again.

Will it be okay, or should I rack and put it into my other carboy at this point?

 

[TipsyDragon]

RDWHAHB. your beer will be fine leave it alone. chock this up to a learning experience.

 

[Revvy]

Tipsy's right. Relax. WHat I usually do is a couple days before racking to secondary to lager, is I bring it upstairs and let it warm up and d-rest, THEN secondary it, and put it in the cold to lager. But I am sure you will be fine.

 

[Yooper]

The reason to do a diacetyl rest is to encourage the yeast to clean up any diacetyl created during fermentation. Sometimes a diacetyl rest isn't even necessary, so don't worry!

What I would do is taste the beer. If there is any hint of butter, butterscotch, or even a mild "slickness" or oiliness in the mouthfeel, I'd keep it at room temperature until it's gone. If you don't detect any diacetyl then don't worry about it, and you can start lagering.

 

[rockout]

Thanks guys. I wasn't overly worried and now I'm not worried at all.

In fact, Yoop, this is the same lager you were giving me advice on before I brewed it - so I brought the wort down to 56 degrees as per your suggestion (56 was as low as I could get it, it was 90 degrees outside) and stuck it in the fridge with my starter immediately. Does that help avoid diacetyl? I got the impression that's why I was doing that, instead of tossing the yeast in at 75 (like I do for ales), and then waiting for fermentation to begin before bringing it down to 50.

 

[mojotele]

Diacetyl is a temporary by-product of fermentation. Some yeasts make it, some yeasts don't. And of the yeasts that make it, some make more than others. I don't think pitching temperature necessarily affects diacetyl production. It may, but pitching cold doesn't guarantee that you won't have any diacetyl.

Pitching temperature arguably affects the production of other things, though, like esters. There doesn't seem to be much of a consensus on which is better for lagers, though - pitching cold or pitching warm.