Roeselare krausen

I'm looking to do a Flanders red in the near future using jamils recipe. I was planning on pitching roeselare directly and skip doing a clean ferment first. My question is how much krausen does roeselare generate? I'm trying to figure out what size carboy to tie up for a year. Batch size would be 5 gallons into the fermenter.

WI_Wino said:

I'm looking to do a Flanders red in the near future using jamils recipe. I was planning on pitching roeselare directly and skip doing a clean ferment first. My question is how much krausen does roeselare generate? I'm trying to figure out what size carboy to tie up for a year. Batch size would be 5 gallons into the fermenter.

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I've used it a couple times and the krausen never got too crazy. However, could perform differently for you depending on gravity, temperature, etc. I would just use a blowoff if you want to be safe.

So it didn't ferment super low like apfelwein? There was a normal krausen?

WI_Wino said:

So it didn't ferment super low like apfelwein? There was a normal krausen?

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Yes, there was a definite krausen at least an inch or so each of the times I've used it. It's not going to be like EC-1118 with no krausen.

Cool, thanks!

Here us mine 24 hours after pitching on tart of darkness clone (stout). This was from earlier this week and I noticed the Krausen go up and down a little but nothing crazy. This is in. 6.5 gallon carboy. I pitched the Roselare by it self and did not use any other yeast.


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I had a similar experience to MollyHatcher and have actually pitched Roeselare twice. I didn't need a blow off either time and had about the same amount of head space (maybe a little less) as Molly. The 2nd pitch was after removing some and replenishing with fresh wort after about 8 months.
No starter either time.

When I did my tart of darkness with no starter just direct pitch..... I had 5 gallons in a 6.5 better bottle, I had a huge blow off. I think it just varys.

Cadrian said:

When I did my tart of darkness with no starter just direct pitch..... I had 5 gallons in a 6.5 better bottle, I had a huge blow off. I think it just varys.

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It's more temp variance than anything. Keep it in the 60s and you're money. Warm it up have a blow off tube ready, this really applies to all yeast

Based on my experience it tends to vary depending on how fresh the pack is. I've had to use a blow off every time it's been really fresh (e.g. 2-3 weeks old). On the other hand, a couple of times I've used older packs (2-3 months old or older) and they have never gotten more than an inch or two of krausen. These are all five gallons going into six gallon Better Bottles.

I had to use a blow off on a 3 month old pack @ 72 degrees. It took about 36 hours to get going before there was much activity.

Brewed this up last week,here's the krausen after fermentation has slown down (4 days). Pitched single smacked pack of roeselare directly into 6 gallons of wort.

The total volume of my carboy is 21.5 L, and there are about 19 liters of beer OG=1.054.
I fermented at room temperature (22-23`C; 72F). The damn thing took off like crazy, blew and spewed all over the outside of my carboy. Luckily it did not knock off the mug acting as my airlock. I could barely scrub off the dried residue the day after. It is 10 days old on the photo, and you can see the havoc this krausen left on the inside going all the way up to the neck of the carboy.

Update: So I agitated the beer dragging it from the closet to make the photo. Next day another blow off. The bugs are definitely going to town on this one. It already smells like heaven

I pitched on a 20 day old cake from the beer above. Look at this krausen, I had to rack off half of my beer into the boil kettle for primary to accommodate it, yet it's still pushing its way up.

WI_Wino said:

I'm trying to figure out what size carboy to tie up for a year. Batch size would be 5 gallons into the fermenter.

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a better solution, IMO, is to ferment in a 6.5 gal carboy, wait for krausen to subside, then rack to a 5 gallon carboy for long-term aging. you want as little headspace as possible in the aging vessel.

I'd be curious if aeration/oxygenation method is also a variable factor.

sweetcell said:

a better solution, IMO, is to ferment in a 6.5 gal carboy, wait for krausen to subside, then rack to a 5 gallon carboy for long-term aging. you want as little headspace as possible in the aging vessel.

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I think an even better option is to buy a new better bottle with rubber bung and S type air lock and let it sit. No need to worry about krausean or timing up a fermentation chamber for a year.