S-04

With WLP002 I have always found there is diacetyl the day the krausen falls and maybe a day later but it cleans up pretty quickly. This is lasting longer than I expected. I plan to give it another week and then add krausen beer if needed.

Not sure. I don’t have tons of experience with SO4, but I haven’t had this problem before with it either.

It’s been 6 days. I’m saying Tilt tells me fermentation was finished after 48 hours. Now, 4 days after that (6 days total) I figured the diacetyl would be gone. I am being patient, but I also like to talk about beer, so I posted about it.

So I just made seven beers with S-04 and I hate diacetyl. Knowing this, I had the beers in a cooler spot for the first 3-4 days and then moved the fermenter to a warmer spot upstairs to finish for another 3 days, then cooler again for the last day and then I transferred. On all seven batches, the beer was transferred to the keg anywhere from 7 to 9 days after brewing. The very first batch had a very slight hint of diacetyl and on some days I couldn't taste it at all. But if you hurry it up or you do not get it a little warmer towards the end, it's definitely possible.

Excellent news.  

It can be very obvious.  You know which commercial beer can actually have a good amount of diacetyl?  Pilsner Urquell.  Especially in cans.  Don't ask me why.  I had some issues with it over a winter and my conclusion was that whatever yeast I was using (it was a lager yeast so maybe 2124, 2308, 940, etc) was being kept too cold for the entire fermentation:  Maybe 4 days in the fridge at 50° and then out of the fridge but onto the cold basement floor where it stayed too cool to drive off the diacetyl.  As I went back and checked my notes, my complaints about diacetyl were all from November to maybe March or so.  So I built a little spot between two fridges where it was warmer from the fridges running.  I got the fermenter up off the cool basement floor, swirled it a bit to get the yeast in suspension and those things plus the warmth worked.  Now in my new place, there is a "utility room" upstairs where the furnace, hot water heater, etc. are located and it's warm in there so I'll place the fermenter there for a few days.  Obvious diacetyl is really terrible.  It detracts from the flavor of the beer and there is no escaping it... if you can taste it.  Some people don't seem to notice.  I had a lager on tap that I did not try.  My older son was home and drinking it.  I tapped a glass and tasted it.  Holy smokes the diacetyl.  I asked my son about it and he said, "FANTASTIC BEER!".