All-Hail-IPA
Member
Hey guys, I am new to brewing and keep hearing people mention diacetyl rest and I have no idea what it is, how to do it, or why it is beneficial to my beer...need some clarification. Thanks!
what is diacetyl rest and how is it beneficial to my beer.
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It is typically used for lagers. Lagers are fermented in the 50s, at this temp some of the by products of the yeast are not cleaned up. By raising the temp of the fermenter to 70ish for a couple days, after initial fermentation, the yeast ramp up their activity and cleanup the rest of their by products. Then the beer is lagered for an extended period.
All-Hail-IPA
Member
Awesome. Thanks for letting me know
D-rest for lagers is a pretty common practice. If I'm fermenting a lager at 48-50*F, when it's around 85-90% done, I'll let it come up to 60-61*F for 3 days. One more hydro + taste/feel test and then cold crash if all is good.
Some ale yeast (like WY1968/WLP002) will also produce a noticeable amount of diacetyl. You can address this issue by doing step-up fermentations. Pitch and begin at the low end of the yeast's optimal range. After 4-5 days, slowly let the temp come up 5-6*F over the next few days until it's done. The modest bump in temp once active fermenting is over will encourage the yeast to clean up after themselves as they eat natural by-products like diacetyl.
Some ale yeast (like WY1968/WLP002) will also produce a noticeable amount of diacetyl. You can address this issue by doing step-up fermentations. Pitch and begin at the low end of the yeast's optimal range. After 4-5 days, slowly let the temp come up 5-6*F over the next few days until it's done. The modest bump in temp once active fermenting is over will encourage the yeast to clean up after themselves as they eat natural by-products like diacetyl.
I just increased my Pale Ale fermentation temp from 19.0 °C to 20.7 °C on day 3. Not sure if that's necessary (Wyeast 1056, OG: 1.057) but I don't think it will be bad either. I plan on dry hopping during my vacation soon so I need to make sure that fermentation is done.
