Should I still have krausen at this point?

I brewed an ESB on Sunday night, and it started off gangbusters. First thing Monday morning, krausen was already blowing out of the blowoff tube. By this point it's mostly receded back into the carboy (6 gallon). But there's still a really thick, almost 2" layer of krausen that's usually been gone by this point on most of my previous beers.

I used Wyest Thames yeast with a starter. OG on this beer is 1.050, and it's been kept at a consistent 65F. Is it possible that this is the ideal fermentation, and that I've just under-fermented all my previous beers (if the krausen is gone after a few days)? Or did I over-pitch? Or do I need to just relax?

Relax. The temperature is low, which is good, so your krausen should hang around a little longer. Unless you dumped in a 4 liter starter I don't think you over pitched.

You have krausen to the point when it falls.

In other words don't worry. No fermentation is ever the same, and it is an organic process, so it has it's own timeframe and agenda, which is often totally different from ours.

If you have krausen you have fermentation, and that is all that matters.

And when it's over, it's over. Just let it happen.

I am in a similar boat with an AHB double chocolate stout. It's been fermenting for over 2 weeks, and it still has a very thick layer of almost pillowy caramel Krausen on the top of it... normally by now all of my krausen in other brews would have fallen and become trub.
Anyone else get this from the double choco stout?

jcarson83 said:

Relax. The temperature is low, which is good, so your krausen should hang around a little longer. Unless you dumped in a 4 liter starter I don't think you over pitched.

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I hear a lot of opinions abount under pitching, but is it possible to OVER pitch?

KayaBrew said:

I hear a lot of opinions abount under pitching, but is it possible to OVER pitch?

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Yes, absolutely.

Is it OK to rack while the krausen is still on top? Is it going to taste like crap if I suck any of that in??

Ale to the Chief said:

Is it OK to rack while the krausen is still on top? Is it going to taste like crap if I suck any of that in??

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Why do you want to rack?

Have you taken a hydrometer reading?

If it has krausen it isn't done fermenting yet.

I don't know if you get this, but you are not in charge, the yeasts are. Get outta the habit of thinking about it being your time table, it's the yeasties who are the experts and the bosses of the beer. When it is done doing what it needs to do, the krauzen will fall.

Quite a few of us just leave our beers in primary for 4 weeks, then bottle, the yeast finish feremnting then they clean up the byproducts of fermentation...It makes for great beer.

Patience and you will be rewarded

the beer's ready to be racked. it's been in the primary for 2 weeks and i've reached my final gravity. but there is still a thick, fluffy krausen (maybe that is not the right word) sitting on top of the beer. I didn't know if I have to wait for that to fall before I can rack.

What type of brew and what is your gravity reading right now? I have had some brews still bubbling at two weeks. There are a lot of variables.

It's a hefe.... I don't remember the FG and I'm at work right now so I can't look, but I did a reading and it was where the instructions said it should have finished. I haven't seen the airlock bubble in a week or so.

So is the general consensus that if there is still foam on top that it's not ready for racking? Or if I feel it's done can I just rack and try not to suck in any of the foam?

Good thread.. I was wondering the same thing.

My 2nd beer that I am brewing.. a Brown Ale.. has been in the primary for 2.5 weeks and it still has krausen on top.

I've never had one that failed to drop but I have had them take several weeks. If your patient and let it do its thing I think you will be more pleased with the results. Not that it won't be good if you rush it a little but it will be better if you don't.

I think you just need to wait. If it still has krausen then its still doing something, even if you have already reached your FG. The yeasts need to clean up after themselves. You would have nasty **** in your inevitably sub-par beer if you racked right now. I just bottled a hefe that i wanted to bottle after 2.5 weeks when i discovered it still had a thick layer of krausen on top. I just put the top back on and waited another week and it was all cleaned up, krausen had fell, and no floaties. Like Revvy said, the yeasts will just take as long as they need.

OK thanks to everyone for the advice. I was trying to rush it a bit because the goal is to have it ready on xmas eve. Guess its better to be patient though and end up with good beer

Ale to the Chief said:

IGuess its better to be patient though and end up with good beer

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Yeah, especially if you are serving homebrew to friends/family for the first time. Serving green beer too soon to "virgins" can result in them thinking;

1)You suck as a brewer
2)All hpmebrew sucks
3)All beer but BMC sucks therefore I won't expand my horizons.
4)Everything Anheiser Bush said about craft beer and "dark beer" is true.

Take ole Orson's Advice (even though he's talking about wine...)

I've come to the conclusion that 2 of my 4 beers i wanted ready for Xmas are simply not going to make it. I'll drink them in Jan/Feb. Dont' rush a beer for a date. you don't get a choice.
Gotta do it my man.

Dont' serve green beer.

Ale to the Chief said:

OK thanks to everyone for the advice. I was trying to rush it a bit because the goal is to have it ready on xmas eve. Guess its better to be patient though and end up with good beer

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kahunaman said:

I've come to the conclusion that 2 of my 4 beers i wanted ready for Xmas are simply not going to make it. I'll drink them in Jan/Feb. Dont' rush a beer for a date. you don't get a choice.
Gotta do it my man.

Dont' serve green beer.

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Me too.....I had planned to have both versions of my brown ales ready, especially the Smoked/bourbon Oak one...It is highly doubtful.

Neither will my IPA.

The only one I will be taking is my Dead Guy clone.

If I'm lucky I'll be pouring a brown on New Years Eve...but who knows.

I'll say it again, this isn't Koolaid we're making here. We just don't stir a bunch of stuff and guzzle. When we deal with living micro organisms, we're kinda married to their timetables.

(It could be worse, we could be making wine, where the talk is of months, not just weeks. I don't know how they do it. )

kahunaman said:

I am in a similar boat with an AHB double chocolate stout. It's been fermenting for over 2 weeks, and it still has a very thick layer of almost pillowy caramel Krausen on the top of it... normally by now all of my krausen in other brews would have fallen and become trub.
Anyone else get this from the double choco stout?

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I just brewed it this weekend and the krausen came and went in a little less than 4 days. The temp was at about 65 in the room. But like Revvy said, every batch is different.

I rushed to keg my last brew... I wish I hadn't. It's drinkable alrght, but cloudy, not great, and all that. I think it would have been better if I had waited another week or so for it. Lesson learned.

Here is my Double Chocolate Stout after 14 DAYS fermenting... that's some thick, heavy krausen on the top there. It almost makes me want to eat it... but I won't eat it.

maybe I'll eat it.

In any event, that was supposed to be for Xmas.. but unless the elves come down tomorrow and make it all drop out, thats not going to be in a bottle any time soon.

Unkle Danky said:

I just brewed it this weekend and the krausen came and went in a little less than 4 days. The temp was at about 65 in the room. But like Revvy said, every batch is different.

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See my problem is that I don't have neighbors currently living below me.. so the floors are freezing (its 8 degrees in Chicago right now). My apartment is about 65, but the carboys are about 55.

So I figure that it is going to take a long time for my stuff to ferment. Im just trying to be patient.

If you get those carboys just a BIT off the ground, it'll make a world of difference for the temp. I took them from my basement floor at 60 and raised them up on an old desk top propped over an old dresser frame and they were at 66 the next day.