Diacetyl

[Capn Ahab]

Is it ever acceptable in a beer?

My personal opinion is no. But unquestionably it's there in major commercial British ales. What are the feelings of y'all out there?

[barney]

Cant stand it in beer.

[adomant]

definately not for lagers, but for certain dark malty beers it is part of the profile to leave some in

[gregorach]

May occasionally be acceptable at low levels, but I'm not a fan myself.

[Bribie]

It's a personal preference. I like it, and I push the D in red ales, especially when using Caraaroma. Rush the fermentation through, using a yeast such as Wyeast 1768 and YUM.

Diacetyl is a signature note in Pilsner Urquell, must have been doing something right for the last 150 years.

[critch]

not a fan myself........

[musojohn]

The last 2 brews I've done I have ramped up the temp at the end but I will certainly experiment with not doing and possibly even cooling early.
I quite like it when not too excessive

[Capn Ahab]

Diacetyl is a signature note in Pilsner Urquell, must have been doing something right for the last 150 years.

Is it????!!! Bloody hell, I never knew that. I've only recently started spotting it in beers and am becoming a bit of a diacetyl Nazi. I'm getting a bottle of urquell tonight to check!

*edit Are you sure you don't mean DMS?

[Bribie]

No, Diacetyl. They boil (or used to boil) for 2 hours so no DMS, hopefully

[coatesg]

Yup - the PU strain kicks off a fair bit of Diacetyl. I have it in the fridge to try with at some point soon...

I am not particularly sensitive to it, but it's not hugely pleasant when it reeks of it - and I find the mouthfeel far too "slick" and coating, though a lot of people do like it.

[Capn Ahab]

Diacetyl is a signature note in Pilsner Urquell, must have been doing something right for the last 150 years.

Is it????!!! Bloody hell, I never knew that. I've only recently started spotting it in beers and am becoming a bit of a diacetyl Nazi. I'm getting a bottle of urquell tonight to check!

*edit Are you sure you don't mean DMS?

Ok, so perhaps I'm not such a Nazi after all. Finally got round to having a bottle of PU last night and I still love it. It's always been my dad's 'house' lager and we usually drink straight out of the bottle, but this time I poured into a tulip to get the full aroma. Diacetyl is a faint background note of complexity on the nose that adds a bit of richness but is very easy to miss if you're not looking for it. It's a bit more noticeable on the palate, but is still in the background. Basically it's bloody impressive - nothing like some of the butter-bombs I have had in the pub and at brew club recently.

Hats off to PU for such a delicate balancing act.