Falling Krausen

Ok, so I brewed last Sunday, and my wheat brew has been in my primary carboy since then. The airlock activity has now slowed down to about 2 bubbles per minute.

I've been searching through threads about when to rack to secondary, and keep reading that I need to wait for the krausen to fall. I still have about 1/2" of foam/krausen in the top.

Here's my question: When the krausen falls, does the foam completely go away? Has my fermentation slowed down enough after almost 7 days to rack to secondary?

Thanks!

Austin

The foam doesn't always go away completely, I recently completed a batch of Mild that went to secondary with some foam remaining on top. It spent 10 days in secondary and the foam never returned. Wheat beers usually have strong heads, what's left of the krausen in your primary is normal.

So with the time that it's spend in primary and the slowed down bubbling, do you think it'd be ok to rack to secondary?

I normally let it stay in the primary for 7 days, if there is still krausen on top I will wait another day to transfer it to the secondary. Normally, the extra day is enough time to for the krausen to go away and leave a few bubbles behind. Also, 2 bubbles per minute is usually a good sign to transfer. Just be careful that after you transfer, fermentation doesn't start up again and blow off the carboy cap. You may want to put the airlock on the secondary for a day or so just be sure.

Wheats have strong head retention & a krausen is just a big head. I'd say you're good to go, based on time and bubble rate. I'd take a gravity just to be certain.

Ok, I just took a gravity reading and it was 1.011... just below the 1.012 specified by the kit instructions so I think I'm good to go for racking to secondary.

Austin

Then looks like you are ready to Rock on! Let us know how it turns out and congrats on your first batch!