When I brewed about 16 days ago, I realized I didn't have any irsh moss at the end of the bil. Now the beer is still in primary and there is a layer of foam still. The ambient temperatures are being keep at about 61 F. I plan on taking it down to about 50 F and holding there for at least another two weeks. I don't plan on transfering to a secondary as I am not sure there will be a real benifit. Is all the crap going to settle out even though I didn't use the irsh moss? I have not seen any of my other beers hold this layer of foam for so long before.
Sounds fine, I never use irish moss in any of my beers and they come out crystal clear after a nice crash cooling. If there is still a layer of krausen on top, don't cool it down yet, it's probably not done fermenting. When it's done that layer on top will fall out. Give it a few more days, take some hydro readings and go from there.
Sounds good. I don't usually take hydro readings to reduce risk of infection. I usually just wait until its really clear before I bottle or move to keg and at that point I take a reading. I have not had a problem yet.
Irish moss removes proteins, proteins are important for head retention. Not surprising the krausen is more persistent. Your plan sounds good.
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your foam layer is more dependent on the yeast strain you used, than irish moss.
__________________ Malkore
Primary: English Mild
On tap: Pale Ale, Lancelot's Wheat, English Brown Ale, Steam Beer, HoovNuts IPA
Bottled: MOAM, Braggot, Raspberry Melomel, Merlot, Apfelwein, Pyment, Sweet mead, Cabernet
Gal in 2009: 27, Gal in 2010: 34, Gal in 2011: 13, Gal in 2012: 10
Just kegged today and it tasted really nice, at least I think so. It is a bit cloudy, I hope it clears some as it sits in the keg.
If anyone is thinking of using some sort of temp controller for fermentation, I say its well worth it. This batche is so much better since I used a temp controlled fermentation.
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