Lager progress

[FedoraDave]

I was afraid that I hadn't pitched enough yeast, since my starter never really seemed to take off. I couldn't really perceive any krausen, even though I had a nice vortex from the time I got it going on Thursday evening until Saturday afternoon, when I put it in the fridge to crash so I could decant.

But I brewed the Amber's Amber on Sunday, and put it in the lager fridge, set at 52 degrees. Since then, I've gotten a nice krausen, and the blow-off isn't going crazy, but it's bubbling every couple of seconds or so. It just seems so nice.... The temp strip reads around 53 or 54, and that's right in this yeast's wheelhouse.

I figure I'll check the gravity on Sunday, which will be a week of primary fermentation. If the gravity is in the 1.020 - 1.025 range, I'll take it out for the diacetyl rest.

One concern, though; my basement temperature will probably bring the carboy's temperature up to about 63-64 degrees. The other alternative, which is my beer closet in the ManCave, will bring the carboy's temperature up to about 73 or so. Any advice on which would be the best environment for the D-rest?

I'd prefer to keep it in the basement, because it's heavy, and that would be the easiest option. But believe me, for this lager, I'd be willing to schlep the whole 40+ pounds of beer up the stairs and into the closet if that's the best thing for the beer. I think I have good mojo going with this lager, and I want to keep it positive.

[BlackDuck]

I believe the D-rest will work perfectly at 63 - 64 degree temp range. I vaguely remember reading an article or recipe a while back that mentioned to rasie the temp to 60 degrees for the D-rest. So I think you should be good. Maybe someone with a little more experience than me will chime in.

I surely don't blame you for not wanting to haul the bucket up the stairs.

[JohnSant]

When I brewed my Vienna Lager I was reading about D-Rest And everything I came across said to raise the temp by 8 to 10 deg. But I a Newbie trying to learn!

[Texas Dan]

I've not done D-rest on any lagers I've made, but I will quote from "Brewing Lager Beer" by Gregory J. Noonan.
He states page 242 under Post Kraeusen;

Quote: "If a diacetyl rest is being employed, force the temperature of the post-kraeusen
ferment to rise to 55 to 60 F (13 to 16 degrees C). After two days, lower the ambient temperature again, bringing the beer down
to 38 to 40 degrees F (3 to 4 degrees C) at 3 to 5 degrees F (1 to 3 degrees C) per day" Endquote

Hope this helps.

[FedoraDave]

That helps quite a bit, Dan. Thanks.

I had a feeling that temps in the 70s would be too high, but wasn't sure if low-mid 60s was too low for a proper D-rest. I also was unaware of lowering the ambient temperature slowly every day, but I can see where it would be beneficial.

[Texas Dan]

That is the expert scientific answer to lower the temperature 3-5 degrees a day, but in
the real world with the equipment we have, that I at least have, it isn't always possible.
I doubt bringing it from a D-rest to the frig temps in a shorter period would make any
discernible difference in taste or quality to anyone.

I have been doing primarily lagers following the German Reinheitsgebot (purity law) over the
past couple of years, fermenting in a styrofoam box with ice bottles and cold lagering in a frig
I share with my wife. Luckily I'm retired and can monitor the temps. Her constant complaints
of frozen lettuce and veggies is a little irritating though so I may have to think about a
personal frig in the next few years. We just celebrated our 51st, maybe I can work it in by
the 75th.
Her being German we have quite a circle of German friends. The ones that are beer Connoisseurs,
most are, say my lagers are some of the best they've had.
I have to believe that's not just to get more free beer.

[Kealia]

My $0.2 (since ya asked) is that either will be fine. A 10-degree bump should do you just fine but going into the low 70's wouldn't cause me any concern at all either.
Your taste profile and any by-products are going to be set by the time you do your D-rest so you are really just cleaning up and finishing off the last bit of fermentation. If 64 is the easy way (not having to carry it upstairs) use that and be confident that all is well.

Side note: The notion of dropping temps slowly is discussed as not wanting to shock the yeast. The consensus is that too fast of a temp swing can shock yeast and cause them to "expel" unwanted by-products. (Apologies for the non-scientific term here...I don't recall what it is). We all know how sensitive yeast are to temp swings so gradual reductions in temperature is the IDEAL way to do things. Even with a cold-crash. In a perfect world we'd drop 5 degrees or so per day instead of just taking our beer and putting them in a fridge already at 38 or so to cold crash. But, we're the home brewers and they are the big boys who have room, time and temp control to do such things.

Sorry, thread hijack over.

[FedoraDave]

It's good information, though, Ron, and food for thought.

With five gallons of liquid, I couldn't see the temp dropping precipitously in a short time (or enough to make a really big difference in the final product). Same with warming up. I'm not doing that mechanically, I'm just taking it out of the lager fridge and setting it on a shelf, so it's going to take some time to reach ambient temperature anyway.

I am going away in a week, though, so I'm going to need to time it right, but I'm not really all that worried. I was thinking of taking a gravity sample tonight, just to see where I'm at and get a sense of how to time it.