Doing my first lager

[kgraber]

I believe I have the process down.

I'm going to go with a yeast starter.

Primary ferment at 55* for 3-5 weeks. Then rack to a secondary and cold lager.

I understand that if I pitch enough yeast and wait long enough i won't have to do a diacetyl rest? I have 4 brews at different stages right now so waiting won't be a problem for me.

Anything I'm missing?

 

[Andy_LV]

I think you can tell if you need a D rest by how it smells/tastes.

Since I had only 4 lager batches, I can only tell from my experience - I always did D-rest at the end of active fermentation phase, but, I never nosed or tasted any diacetyl in beer before the rest - so maybe it could have been skipped, then again I used dry S34/77 yeast and, a lot of it - about 20g for 23l batch.

As I understand, you can do the D-rest at any time after active fermentation phase is done - beer will warm up and diacetyl will be released (if its there).

 

[kgraber]

Thanks.

I think you can tell if you need a D rest by how it smells/tastes.

Since I had only 4 lager batches, I can only tell from my experience - I always did D-rest at the end of active fermentation phase, but, I never nosed or tasted any diacetyl in beer before the rest - so maybe it could have been skipped, then again I used dry S34/77 yeast and, a lot of it - about 20g for 23l batch.

As I understand, you can do the D-rest at any time after active fermentation phase is done - beer will warm up and diacetyl will be released (if its there).

 

[Yooper]

There is a test for diacetyl outlined in John Palmer's book. I'd suggest doing a diacetyl rest as a matter of course anyway for new lager brewers.

In very small amounts, diacetyl is hard to detect. It's usually just an "oily" or slick feeling on the tongue or on the teeth. In larger amounts, it tastes buttery or like butterscotch.

The problem is that if you taste for it, and don't detect it, it will get worse and not better. So, a lager that doesn't have much diacetyl tasted in the initial taste may become a butter bomb later.

I have had about 1/2 my lagers that didn't need a diacetyl rest. I pitch HUGE starters, and pitch cold. But doing a diacetyl rest won't harm the beer, even if not strictly necessary. It can benefit the beer. It's a "can't hurt might help" kind of thing.

 

[kgraber]

The more I've been thinking about it, I've decided to do the D rest. It's only a couple days and it's good insurance.

There is a test for diacetyl outlined in John Palmer's book. I'd suggest doing a diacetyl rest as a matter of course anyway for new lager brewers.

In very small amounts, diacetyl is hard to detect. It's usually just an "oily" or slick feeling on the tongue or on the teeth. In larger amounts, it tastes buttery or like butterscotch.

The problem is that if you taste for it, and don't detect it, it will get worse and not better. So, a lager that doesn't have much diacetyl tasted in the initial taste may become a butter bomb later.

I have had about 1/2 my lagers that didn't need a diacetyl rest. I pitch HUGE starters, and pitch cold. But doing a diacetyl rest won't harm the beer, even if not strictly necessary. It can benefit the beer. It's a "can't hurt might help" kind of thing.

 

[rjwhite41]

You do the d-rest when it's 2/3rds finished not after it is done. The yeast needs to be active in order to clean it up. Raising the temperature just increases the rate at which the clean up happens. I always do d-rests. It doesn't do any harm and it's less of a hassle than testing it.