BoPils now 23 days in primary @ 12C/53F - still do a diacetyl rest?

[renstyle]

I have a Bohemian Pilsner that I pitched on June 6th, and then left town on business. Fermented in a corny keg. Still sitting in a 12C/53F keezer. Used 2 packs of W34/70 for good measure.

Now it's 23 days on, I'll check the gravity when I get home, but I fully expect it to be fairly close to FG. My next step was to cold crash overnight to 5C/41F, then transfer to a serving keg... but a d-rest?

Most places I've read about a rest has you slow-ishly ramping up the temp to around 18C/65F when there are a few gravity points left to let the yeast eat up any extraneous diacetyl.

If I'm at my anticipated FG already, would you recommend a d-rest at this point?
Or just transfer to serving and leave it at 5C and serve in a week or so?

 

[Sammy86]

It can't hurt anything at this point since you're already at FG. @bracconiere and I are all about the EHDR (Extra Hot D Rest)

However, I think you're safe to transer to serving and enjoy!

 

[bracconiere]

I never would have thought i could see a use for a wifi tilt hydro, and wifi inkbird temp controller. until this post! lol

i guess you could naturally carb in the serving keg at room temp, if you want the extra points, and a d-rest?

honestly i don't know much about d-rests though....

 

[passedpawn]

I have a Bohemian Pilsner that I pitched on June 6th, and then left town on business. Fermented in a corny keg. Still sitting in a 12C/53F keezer. Used 2 packs of W34/70 for good measure.

Now it's 23 days on, I'll check the gravity when I get home, but I fully expect it to be fairly close to FG. My next step was to cold crash overnight to 5C/41F, then transfer to a serving keg... but a d-rest?

Most places I've read about a rest has you slow-ishly ramping up the temp to around 18C/65F when there are a few gravity points left to let the yeast eat up any extraneous diacetyl.

If I'm at my anticipated FG already, would you recommend a d-rest at this point?
Or just transfer to serving and leave it at 5C and serve in a week or so?

I'd say no. I usually do it, but given enough time it'll happen at happen naturally at fermentation temperatures. The obvious thing to do is just take a sample and taste for it. If it tastes fine to you*, keg and no worries.

*Unfinished beer never tastes perfect. It usually is missing that je ne sais quoi, which I would attribute mostly to the acidity of carbonation, and also further settling of suspended yeast and other proteins. But if you detect strong buttery flavors, that's bad. I've never experienced it myself, so either I'm not sensitive to it, or I am a good brewer (I would assume the former).

 

[Bramling Cross]

I can't say that I've ever regretted skipping a D-rest with 34/70. It's an undemanding strain, you just pitch adequately and let it rip at 48F-52F. Great beer magically appears out the other end.

Frankly, I've abandoned D-rests because the process sets your beer up for oxygen hazards due to the suck-back problem associated with the greater delta on your crash to laagering temps. I'm sure there are strains that do benefit from a D-rest, but I'm quite confident that 34/70 isn't one of them.

 

[Steveruch]

I can't say that I've ever regretted skipping a D-rest with 34/70. It's an undemanding strain, you just pitch adequately and let it rip at 48F-52F. Great beer magically appears out the other end.

Frankly, I've abandoned D-rests because the process sets your beer up for oxygen hazards due to the suck-back problem associated with the greater delta on your crash to laagering temps. I'm sure there are strains that do benefit from a D-rest, but I'm quite confident that 34/70 isn't one of them.

I've never needed one with 34/70.

 

[renstyle]

Sample came out 1.010, just a point off the recipe 1.009. Brewfather is telling me it's at 98%, but my calculator says it's 1009/1010 = 99.9009% done

A friend of mine wanted to harvest the 34/70 from this keg to do some experiments. Yes, I realize this was dry yeast and it's super cheap, but he just got a 2nd stir plate this week, and needs some source material. I'm happy to oblige.

Was thinking of injecting some gelatin now at 12C and let the cold crash help with the floc. Any thoughts on re-using yeast, of any kind, after a gelatin addition? Things to watch for? I'm gonna swirl the cake with the dregs (closed xfer to serving keg) of the keg directly into 2 sanitized quart jars.

Literally asking for a friend.

*Unfinished beer never tastes perfect. It usually is missing that je ne sais quoi, which I would attribute mostly to the acidity of carbonation, and also further settling of suspended yeast and other proteins. But if you detect strong buttery flavors, that's bad. I've never experienced it myself, so either I'm not sensitive to it, or I am a good brewer (I would assume the former).

I get your point exactly. I was giving my sample the benefit of the doubt, pretty much like you expressed. It was definitely not "done". She needs a good cold crash and a bit of lagering.

I can't smell or taste any butterscotch, mostly just a yeasty yellow concoction where the lack of floc is making it one of the main flavors I'm getting. I got about the same reaction from a seltzer a friend of mine made. The yeast smells funky, but the finished product turned out pretty sweet.

For whatever reason, there was a very slight bit of carbonation<?>, but the turbidity of taking a sample thru a floating dip tube with a mesh filter on the end may be the cause of that, same goes for the yeast.

I caught the bite of the hop bitterness on the finish, which is what I was going for. Not "hoppy" lager, but that Saaz bite we all know. There was quite a bit of yeast in the sample, which I expected using W34/70.

Thanks inkbird, and Fridgidare of the 1990s. Rock solid performance. I've got them both plugged in thru a Kill-A-Watt and it's only pulling an average 23 watts per hour constant. I'm good with that.

 

[Beermeister32]

Never hurts to do that D-rest. You can even take the keg and sit it on the floor at room temperature for a week before lagering.