First Lager Advice - Diacetyl Rest?

[JoshAsh]

So I've got my first lager on.. I'm a fresh noob and have only done about 6 ales... this is 80 % pils and 20 % vienna with wyeast 2124..
It's been fermenting at 9-13 C for about a week now, OG was 1.047 and it is now at about 1.014, the krausen has dropped significantly in the last 24 hours..
Have a couple of questions was hoping you guys could help with..
1. It seems to have fermented quickly.. is that normal for a lager, i wasn't expecting the krausen to settle in just a week?
2. When to diacetyl rest? Reading threads some ppl are saying d-rest when fermentation is 2/3 of the way through, some guys are saying wait until it's complete, i'm confused as to when this d-rest should be carried out..
Cheers~!

 

[///]

So I've got my first lager on.. I'm a fresh noob and have only done about 6 ales... this is 80 % pils and 20 % vienna with wyeast 2124..
It's been fermenting at 9-13 C for about a week now, OG was 1.047 and it is now at about 1.014, the krausen has dropped significantly in the last 24 hours..
Have a couple of questions was hoping you guys could help with..
1. It seems to have fermented quickly.. is that normal for a lager, i wasn't expecting the krausen to settle in just a week?
2. When to diacetyl rest? Reading threads some ppl are saying d-rest when fermentation is 2/3 of the way through, some guys are saying wait until it's complete, i'm confused as to when this d-rest should be carried out..
Cheers~!

Booyah, another beer is born.

Most lagers, cough, in the big bad commercial world take not much longer than an ale. Most important is taste and process. If it tastes good means the process is in check.

Not knowing mash temp, the 1.014 means not much. For a D Rest, there are a number of techniques. For me, as you have done I look for the visible signs and look at the daily drop in gravity. About 4-8 SG off expected I let free rise and wait to see until all is quiet.

So, you can do it at 2/3 through, 3/4 though or at the end. At home, you are not under tank pressure unlike a brewery, the reason it is done from 2/3 through is they need to be efficient on tanks and get it away quickly. If you wait a day or 2 and are producing a million litres a day every minute counts ... and waiting 48 hours till the end sees you a few mill behind.

 

[Wolfy]

According to the 'Yeast' book (and other stuff I have read in books) you should do your d-rest shortly before the beer reaches final gravity - most likely you are at that stage now. What temperature did you pitch your yeast at, have you tasted a sample, do you actually need to do a d-rest?

 

[maldridge]

Sorry hope I'm not hijacking the thread, but so I don't have to start a new thread, I hope I can sneak in this q here....

Ive read up many articles on d-rests, what they do and when they are used, but not once have I found exactly WHAT to do to achieve it.

Is it simply raising the temp of the fermentation by a couple of degrees at the suitable time (as you guys are now discussing)???

Cheers!!!

 

[crd0902]

I haven't done too many lagers lately under temp control but I remember reading a lot about it and I also remember raising the temp about 6 degrees or so. I may well be wrong but that's how I remember
Cheers chris

 

[yum beer]

I raise temp to 16c just before ferment has finished.

Leave 2 days then drop temp low for 4 -5 to clean up and drop the yeast before racking to secondary for 2 weeks at 0.5c - 1.0c.

 

[JoshAsh]

Thanks for the advice I've tasted a sample and it tastes good (I told the missus this one is going to make her realise that all the money spent on brew equipment is worthwhile ) , .. I'm not really noticing that buttery flavour I got when I brewed a steam ale with lager yeast at 25C...

I did pitch at a pretty high temperature.. probably around 27 :huh: which I realise was probably far too high

Mash temperature was 68 with a 20 minute rise to 72 .. then sparged at 72...