Diacetyl rest after cold crash advice urgently needed!

[rich1985]

Hi All,

So I haven't brewed a lager for a while and now have a dunkel and a dortmunder in the fermentation Chambers. Unfortunately I've gone straight from 12 degrees to cold crash. I didn't do a diacetyl rest. Anyone have any ideas to proceed? My original plan was just to put it in the kegs today.

Someone suggested adding some sugar in boiling water to the fermenter and leaving it at room temp for two days? Should I do this? Also if so, shall I do this in the keg or wait to transfer?

Any help would me much appreciated as currently cleaning the keg with the intention if putting both batches in the kegs.

Thanks in advance and hope I haven't ruined them both!

 

[peebee]

Are you naturally conditioning? In which case there's probably no point worrying about it. The yeast will be active and the beer "warmish" for a few days. "Diacetyl Rest" isn't some essential step, more likely one of those commercial tricks to cover up their short-comings in fast-tracking production, and copied by home brewers as something to get unnecessarily concerned about.

But if not naturally conditioning: Why not?

 

[BeerCat]

Not all lagers require a cold crash, it is somewhat yeast dependent from what i can gather. You should taste it and it may be fine. If you are really concerned you can do a forced diacetyl test. Do a search for info as i have never done one.

How long did you ferment at 12c, did you use lots of yeast? How long did it take to start fermentation?

For what it is worth the best lager i have brewed had what i suspect to be a hint of diacetyl. Something i have never managed to replicate. I have seen German fermentation protocols where they do not do a diacetyl rest at all. They ferment really cold with a ridiculous amount of yeast. I suspect if you maintained temps throughout and had a healthy fermentation you will be ok.

 

[An Ankoù]

To get your diacetyl rest, all you need to do is bring it back into the warm, before racking and still on the yeast. Give it a day to warm up, 3 to 4 days to sort itself out and then cold crash again. No harm done by letting it get cold the first time.

 

[rich1985]

Took your advice, both taste really nice, so I'm going to go ahead and keg. Will remember for next time.

Just seen An Ankou's message. If they taste good now, could they get worse without me bringing them back up to temp?

Really wanted to brew on Tuesday but will have nowhere to ferment if I leave these to rise again.

 

[An Ankoù]

Took your advice, both taste really nice, so I'm going to go ahead and keg. Will remember for next time.

Just seen An Ankou's message. If they taste good now, could they get worse without me bringing them back up to temp?

Really wanted to brew on Tuesday but will have nowhere to ferment if I leave these to rise again.

Bottle it up then. I often forget to do a diacetyl rest and if it tastes good now, why miss an opportunity to brew again.

 

[rich1985]

Thanks for your advice both of you!

 

[peebee]

...
The yeast will be active ...

I think I should make that clearer: "Cold Crash" clears most of the yeast from the beer, not all. There will still be plenty left for "diacetyl rest" and natural conditioning. "Cold Crash" is not a disinfecting process, far from it, and neither is fining: I mention this because I know some people get concerned about it.