When to check Wit SG

I have a Wit that's been in the primary for two weeks now, and I was hoping to bottle it soon. I went to get a SG today and found this beer still had a few inches of krausen. I shouldn't even consider getting a SG until the krausen has died down, right? Doesn't its presence indicate active fermentation?

Typically, yes, but the flow through the airlock is a better indicator. Two weeks sounds like plenty of time for a Wit...

Two weeks does indeed sound like more than enough time for a Wit to finish.

What OG, temperature, and yeast strain?

gee, my wit has been in the primary for 12 days now just took a SG reading of 1.012 just a point away from recipe's estimated FG of 1.011...

i'm planning on bottling soon...

did you have a major lag in your fermentation?

The OG was 1.070 (I added some grain to the recipe), and temp has been between 68-72. Active fermentation within 10hrs. Looks like its secondary time.

Dos_Locos_Brewery said:

Typically, yes, but the flow through the airlock is a better indicator. Two weeks sounds like plenty of time for a Wit...

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And this is why we have so many "I have no bubbles, is my beer ruined?" threads. Airlock activity is not a good indicator of fermentation. Plain and simple.

To the OP, your beer may very well be done. Sometimes krausen won't fall. Take hydrometer readings over a couple days. If it is steady, you can rack from underneath the krausen and bottle.

On the contrary, airlock activity is a good indicator of fermentation (though not a perfect indicator of the fermentation completeness). In 18 years of making beer, mead, and wine, I have observed a 100% correlation between airlock activity and fermentation. Assuming a well-sealed fermentor, the only flaw with it is the tendency for CO2 to continue to come out of solution, leading to residual activity after fermentation is in fact complete.

There is no reason to put a wit in secondary. The secondary is typically used for bulk aging or to let a beer clear, neither of those is necessary with a wit. Just check your gravity throughout the next week, if it's steady you're good to go. I'm just guessing here but you should be in the 1.012-1.014 range with that high an OG.

Dos_Locos_Brewery said:

On the contrary, airlock activity is a good indicator of fermentation (though not a perfect indicator of the fermentation completeness). In 18 years of making beer, mead, and wine, I have observed a 100% correlation between airlock activity and fermentation. Assuming a well-sealed fermentor, the only flaw with it is the tendency for CO2 to continue to come out of solution, leading to residual activity after fermentation is in fact complete.

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While it is an indicator of fermentation, you should not rely on it. You just said so yourself.

I've never had a single bubble come out my airlock in my current primary, and my beers come out just fine. Airlocks are not a fermentation measurement device. They're just an airlock. Trust your hydrometer. If it's near your target FG and holds solid, you're golden.

I have had some issues with wits getting stuck. I have found that a lot of the yeast gets stuck in the krauzen and on the walls. The gravity will just stay high unless you either sprinkle some other neutral dry yeast in there to let finish the job or take something sanitary (brew spoon) and scrape the walls and get the yeast back in there. Also be gental and don't splash everything around.

I haven't seen a lot of people recommend it but it works for me. Once you knock the yeast back into the wort the krauzen will kick up again and I do it again. I do it until the krauzen doesn't build back up (and typically drops out completely) and my gravoty is where I want it.

I have never scraped the krausen ring off of my primary, so I don't know from experience, but I have read that doing this can cause off flavors. That crud is supposed to be very bitter, which may not work well, especially with a wit.

double_e5 said:

I have never scraped the krausen ring off of my primary, so I don't know from experience, but I have read that doing this can cause off flavors. That crud is supposed to be very bitter, which may not work well, especially with a wit.

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I had a couple wits get stuck on me and I used some dry yeast to finish them. Then I was screwing with a starter and the krauzen just stayed up so I knocked the yeast that was on the sides and the top of the krauzen down and it kicked back up. I repeated that I couple times until it was all fermented out. So the next wit I made I used that technique and it worked fine with no off flavors.

I will do this again if my next wit gets stuck.

ChshreCat said:

I've never had a single bubble come out my airlock in my current primary, and my beers come out just fine. Airlocks are not a fermentation measurement device. They're just an airlock. Trust your hydrometer. If it's near your target FG and holds solid, you're golden.

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All of this is so very true. Don't trust your airlocks guys. They're .50 cent Chinese pieces of plastic designed to keep air out of your carboys and let the gas out. They are not designed to indicate whether or not there's any fermentation going on. As previously mentioned, USE YOUR HYDROMETER.
It takes the guess work out.

ChshreCat said:

I've never had a single bubble come out my airlock in my current primary, and my beers come out just fine. Airlocks are not a fermentation measurement device. They're just an airlock. Trust your hydrometer. If it's near your target FG and holds solid, you're golden.

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No argument that the hydrometer is the final word. But for most fermenter configurations, opening to take samples should be minimized, and airlock activity is a good indicator of when to check. Obviously, there are a few who do open (or loosly covered) fermentation, but in a sealed fermenter, if the airlock didn't bubble you didn't have fermentation.

The Wit yeast is a true top cropping strain. It grows on the top, and some settles out on the top rather than flocculating to the bottom of the fermenter after attenuation. A steady SG reading is the right way to tell if it's done.

My Tejas Wit (dropdown) placed 3rd in Best of Show round, it was bottled after 14 days and was judged 21 days after brew day. It wasn't even carbed when I shipped it! Wits are best when they are freakin' young...

14 days in ferm, a wit.... Bottle it baby!