I have a Pilsener that fermented nicely. Sadly there was no place in my house warm enough for a proper diacetyl rest. It is quite buttery. I am wondering if it would be possible to add yeast at this point and complete the diacetyl rest? If so, which yeast would be best? It was originally fermented on Wyeast 2001.
Diacetyl "fix"?
- Thread starter makellr
- Start date
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Diacetyl is extremely difficult to keep around if you have active yeast present. Adding an active yeast starter (any yeast) and keeping it at room temperature for a week should fix it. If you haven't filtered or fined, you might even be able to just warm it up for a couple weeks and do nothing else.
Yes, mix it with krausen beer and the yeast should pick that stuff back up. But diacetyl rests aren't necessary if you manage the fermentation in the traditional way. The diacetyl rest is a product of the necessity to get the beer from the fermenter to the loading dock ASAP. The downside for a home brewer is that he has to wait a couple of extra weeks and has to have available cold storage space.
The beer in question has been lagered at <36 F for several months. The diacetyl is still present.
It isn't enough to just lager it. You must lager it with access to living yeast i.e. you transfer it to the lagering vessel when there is still quite a lot of yeast in suspension - say 1 - 2 °P above terminal.
active being the operative word here. even lager yeast go dormant in the mid to low 40s.
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You certainly wouldn't want to do your main fermentation below 40 °F but yeast will continue to suppress diacetyl below that.
When primary (47 - 48 °F) is close to being finished I take it down to close to near freezing over a couple of days, hold it there for a couple of weeks and then fill into kegs. They then go into the cooler (34-40) and that's where they stay until they are consumed. I'm not saying that is necessarily the best way to do things but I don't get diacetyl.
When primary (47 - 48 °F) is close to being finished I take it down to close to near freezing over a couple of days, hold it there for a couple of weeks and then fill into kegs. They then go into the cooler (34-40) and that's where they stay until they are consumed. I'm not saying that is necessarily the best way to do things but I don't get diacetyl.
dinnerstick
Well-Known Member
my 'emergency' diacetyl fix is to salvage some of the yeast cake (by autosiphon) and add it to some starter wort, get it highly active on a stir plate for as long as that takes (a few hours to half a day) and add it back. i see that's might be a tough ask for your situation as you will need to get the starter going around the same temp as your beer, since you don't want to add warm starter to cold beer.
however, with fermentation done, if it were me, i would just take it up to room temp. unless when you say there's nowhere in your house warm enough for a diacetyl rest you really mean it!
however, with fermentation done, if it were me, i would just take it up to room temp. unless when you say there's nowhere in your house warm enough for a diacetyl rest you really mean it!
thanks dinnerstick. Now I can get to 68 F in the house. I wonder if it matters which yeast I use. My plan is to spin up a starter, pitch it while active with starter and beer both at room temp. Does this sound like the right thing?
It could be due to infection rather than incomplete fermentation.
