Temperature after diacetyl rest (ale)

[jpb2716]

Hey everyone.

I have a clone of Pliny the Elder fermenting right now. I ferment in a temperature controlled chest freezer. Right now, since it's 35 degrees ambient where the chest freezer sits, I have the controller operating a heater inside the chest freezer. I'm fermenting at 68 degrees with US-05 yeast. I'd like to do a diacetyl rest but I've never done this before. I was going to wait until the beer is a few points away from FG and raise the temperature a few degrees for a few days. If this doesn't sound correct or you have another suggestion please let me know. My question is after the few days at the higher temperature, what temperature should I keep it at until its bottled?

While we're on the topic of temperature, I have another question. I'd like to brew another batch and would be using the same chest freezer to ferment in, in addition to the Pliny batch that's in there now. I'd like to ferment the next batch at around 65. I wouldn't be doing this until after the diacetyl rest is completed on the Pliny batch. My question is, will dropping the temp in the fermenter down to 65 have any negative effect on the Pliny batch?

Thanks in advance!

 

[sandyeggoxj]

Once pliny in a few points from FG raising the temp to 70-72 won't hurt it at all. It should help keep the yeast active so that they can crunch through the last little bit. A dry finish is important with this beer. If you are in the dryhop phase and have pliny at 65 while the other beer ferments then you will be fine. The only problem I see is unnecessary "aging" or conditioning in the primary. Once your primary ferment is done start hitting the dry hops.

 

[jpb2716]

Thanks Sandy. I appreciate the help. I checked the beer last night and it's still churning a good bit in the fermenter. There's still about a half inch or so of krausen at this point. It started fermenting this past Sunday night. I pitched 2 packs of rehydrated US-05 too. I guess I'm surprised that it's still going strong. I typically don't take any gravity readings till after the krausen drops but should I take one now to see if I'm close to FG? Or should I wait until the activity in the carboy calms down a bit?

Thanks!

 

[jpb2716]

On Friday I took a gravity reading through the krausen and it was 7 points from FG. I raised the temp to 72 degrees for the diacetyl rest. If I don't end up putting another batch in the same chest freezer, as explained above, do I keep the temp at 72 until I start dry-hopping or do I drop the temp back down to fermentation temp once the diacetyl rest is over?

Thanks again!

 

[sandyeggoxj]

I think either way is fine.

 

[maffew222]

I have never once done a diacetyl rest for a warm fermenting strain. I've pitched US-05 plenty of times at temps from 63-70 and never had it throw diacetyl (I've had it in certain British ale strains)

Afaik, diacetyl rests are for colder fermenting beers( lagers in particular). You're slowing fermentation in an effort to suppress esters, and by raising the temps after this period it gives the yeasts the opportunity to clean up the diacetyl and acetaldehyde produced. Because ale strains ferment warmer and faster (generally) they don't need a diacetyl rest. Plus US-05 is a neutral ale strain meaning it's been selected to NOT create too many of its own flavors.

As for dry hopping, I generally do it once primary slows down, for 4-7 days at whatever temp I have my beer finishing fermentation at. Lots of people have drastically different methods for dry hopping( cold and long, short, who cares, etc) so do what works for you.

 

[duboman]

All brewer's yeast strains have the ability to produce diacetyl but it is most common with cold fermenting lager strains.

That being said, I have never had to perform a D-rest with any ale strain but it really depends on how well you are managing your yeast, pitch rates, etc for a good clean healthy ferment. At any rate, there is no harm doing one so simply raise the temp and let it finish.

As for dry hopping, I typically dry hop at whatever ambient temp is after FG has been reached but YMMV....

 

[jpb2716]

Thanks for the replies everyone.

Are you guys dry-hopping in the primary? This will only be the second time I've dry-hopped a beer and I did it in the primary last time. Also, it seems like you guys start the dry-hopping process a lot sooner than I expected. For instance, the instructions for this Pliny kit say to primary for 2 weeks, 2-4 week secondary and then two stages of dry-hopping. What would you guys suggest? I definitely am not a person that HAS to follow the instructions.

Thanks again!

 

[paperairplane]

I dry hop in primary. Typically let it go 10-14 days, then dry hop.