DRonco

Recipes 

I used a pack of Wyeast 1469 in a stout almost 2 weeks ago and the krausen is still thick and bubbly. Is it normal for a krausen to stick around this long?

Slainte-brew

Recipes 

I am just going to throw some stuff out there since no one has replied. Maybe beers with lots of adjuncts/ non base malts, like stouts, there ends up being a lot of proteins. They can make a thick krausen that will stick around. Possibly a slow and very steady fermentation temp keeps the krausen slowly going. I just had a long krausen with a kolsch though, but I kept it around 60. I usually will swirl it for 5 seconds for a few days and it will fall after awhile. That yeast might not floc very well. It won't negatively effect the beer.

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DRonco

Recipes 

That makes sense. I was just surprised since the other brews I've done had fallen within a few days. I was much more specific with my temps this time around. Pitched it at 66 and let self rise to about 68 then once most of the fermentation slowed down I bumped it to 70 thinking it might cleanup a but faster. I'm gonna let the stout sit in primary for at least another week before bottling it.

Thanks for the reply.

krahm

Recipes 

1469 is a top-cropping yeast. It will develop a sort of "secondary krausen" after fermentation finishes. That's the yeast rising to the surface, which it does instead of settling out at first. That second krausen will be doughy--like pizza dough--and it will hang around forever. Professional brewers will skim the yeast off the top at this point and reuse it. Some people claim that it's the ideal way to harvest top-cropping strains.

But what to do if you're a home-brewer fermenting in a bottle? Some people rack from underneath it, but I just let it go until the krausen drops. For me, this is usually after two weeks or so. If it's taking longer in your case, perhaps it has something to do with the recipe, as the other poster suggested. Or maybe it's just taking its time. That happens, too.

DRonco

Recipes 

That describes it exactly! And it smells super yeasty. I'll just wait another week than bottle it, racking under it if need be. It's certainly smaller then it had been, just persistent.

Thanks for your input.

DRonco

Recipes 

It's cold crashing a viable option? If so, how long is appropriate?

krahm

Recipes 

Yes, some people do that. I don't, but I'd guess two or three days in the fridge would work. If it's getting smaller, you could just wait it out. It will drop back into the beer eventually, though I can certainly understand if you're getting impatient with it. How long has the beer been in the fermenter now? Is it in a bucket? If so, you could just skim it off.

DRonco

Recipes 

2 weeks today in a 6.5 gal bucket. I took a hydro sample the other day. It's at 1014-1016. The sample was real chunky with lots of yeastin suspension.

Gameface

Recipes 

Timely thread. I've got an ESB using 1469 and 10 days after fermentation started there is still a thick krausen and blow off activity. I was worried but figured if someone else posted fears about the same thing I'd tell them to relax and be patient. As long as it's krausen and not spider webs or big silky bubbles I'm just gonna RDWHAHB.

DRonco

Recipes 

Sound's like a plan :-)