Wyeast 2565 pseudo lager

[shacked]

I've got an oktoberfest of sorts (Pils, Munich, Vienna with 2% dark crystal) fermenting away at 14C with WY2565. I pitched a decanted starter that was about 2.5L for an OG of 1.048.

It's about 48 hours into fermentation, happily bubbling away. I was planning on letting it free-rise to 18C for a couple of days before slowly dropping back and then cold crashing.

I'm after a lager like crisp and clean ferment but I want to minimise diacetyl and make sure the beer fully attenuates.

Any advice on timing for the free-rise?

 

[Tahoose]

Let it free rise after it is 50% attenuated.

 

[Blind Dog]

I do mine closer to the end, for the last 20% or so, if the initial ferment was lower than 18 (it rarely is). Not sure mine's a free rise though, as I just set the temp on the fridge controller and the little heat pad kicks in to help raise the temp. Only used that yeast once as its been easier to get wlp029. I found it took a long time to drop clear and ended up fining and filtering.