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MikeRLynch · 04-15-2007, 02:13 PM

Hey all, I'm brewing my first batch, an extract, and I have a question about the krauzen. It's all foamed up and gunky at the top of the bucket, and pretty gross looking. Should I punch it down back into in the beer and mix it in? Its been fermenting for one day.

Thanks!

mike

Chrus · 04-15-2007, 02:15 PM

Nopes... dont need to touch it...

just be patient and it will do its thing and when its ready, it will drop back down on its own...

Foamy, skungy stuff is a good sign...

MikeRLynch · 04-15-2007, 02:22 PM

Geez, this board is like instant messenger, replies come so damn fast! Thanks, I'll just sit and twiddle my thumbs.

BTW, is it normal not to have airlock activity at this point? That's why I popped open the lid in the first place, to see why there wasn't bubbles. Maybe the head is preventing the co2 from escaping?

mike

**BierMuncher** · 04-15-2007, 02:23 PM

The only time you'd swirl the krausen back into the beer is if there was a real slow down in your fermentation. The kruasen would have to blow off and be almost pudding like and that is not likely with an extract.

It's called "beached yeast". Where your krausen is so violent, that the yeast gets lifted up onto the carboy walls and out of suspension.

In your case, that's most likely not what is happenning.

Like Chrus said, foamy, skrungy is good. Leave it be.

***Yooper*** · 04-15-2007, 02:39 PM

You obviously have a good fermentation going, so no airlock activity probably means you don't have a great seal on your bucket. You do have plenty of co2 escaping if you have a nice krausen. The best thing to do now is: nothing! Leave it alone. Step away from the bucket. Close it up. Don't look at it, don't touch it.

Of course, this is also the hardest thing to do!

MikeRLynch · 04-15-2007, 05:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yooper Chick

You obviously have a good fermentation going, so no airlock activity probably means you don't have a great seal on your bucket. You do have plenty of co2 escaping if you have a nice krausen. The best thing to do now is: nothing! Leave it alone. Step away from the bucket. Close it up. Don't look at it, don't touch it.

Of course, this is also the hardest thing to do!

Seriously! It really is. Apparently the krauzen blew up and stuck gook to the lid and to the sides of the bucket. It slightly clogged the airlock, but after i cleaned it and replaced it, it still isn't bubbling. The gook is still there, so I hope it doesn't become a cause of infection.

mike

***Yooper*** · 04-15-2007, 05:57 PM

It won't cause infection- don't worry! When you transfer to secondary or to the bottling bucket, the "gook" will all stay there. You don't want that stuff in your beer, so just leave it stuck there until it's time to clean the bucket after you transfer the beer.

It is so hard to leave it alone, isn't it? You always want to "help" the beer along. But really, the yeast knows what to do and the beer will be made without your help. What most of the brewers I know have done is to start another batch right away- it takes your mind of of the one in progress. That's how the obsession starts........

MikeRLynch · 04-15-2007, 07:12 PM

LOL! That's exactly what I just did. Another gallon on mead on the way

At least I know I can make that.

mike