First brew, not worried - but...

Hello all,

So I brewed by first batch about 3 weeks ago (Munton's Bock Kit, only I replaced the yeast with Safale US-05). Brew process went well, and everything was sanitized within an inch of its life.

Never really had a major bubbling in the airlock - but I didn't worry. There was other obvious signs - a good, healthy looking krausen - and I now have a stable FG.

My only "concern" is that the krausen never collapsed back into the wort. Now I did some searching on the forums; some say to give it a gentle stir, some say to just rack underneath. I found enough of both that I just wanted to ask what you all think. My inclination is to just rack from under the krausen, but since its my first brew, and everything else has gone so well... Thought I wouldn't press my luck.

Do you have a refrigerator available to put it in? If you put it in a refrigerator for a couple days the krausen and any other suspended yeast will certainly fall out.

Are you sure you've hit your final gravity?

Patience is your biggest virtue. If it was me if leave it for another week, put it in the fridge for a couple days, and you should have a nice, fairly clear beer.

Pretty sure I'm at my FG - I hit 1.012 four days straight (OG was 1.048).

I don't have a fridge yet; it's next on the list. Trying to spread out the equipment purchases to lessen the SO's icy glare.

I have no qualms about letting it sit longer - just want to get it right.

I would let it sit at least a week longer to see if it drops out. Otherwise, I would rack from under it. Krausen can contain some fairly bitter tastes and you probably don't want that in your beer.

Where do you live? I know here te weather is perfect for cold crashing. (High 30's low 40's at night). I've been sticking buckets outside to crash as both my fridges are full of kegs.

snaps10 said:

Where do you live? I know here te weather is perfect for cold crashing. (High 30's low 40's at night). I've been sticking buckets outside to crash as both my fridges are full of kegs.

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I have always been afraid to do that because I worry that some thirsty forest creature will come along and relieve me of my beer while I am sleeping. Wouldn't want to wake up and find Bambi passed out on the back porch!

DrummerBoySeth said:

I have always been afraid to do that because I worry that some thirsty forest creature will come along and relieve me of my beer while I am sleeping. Wouldn't want to wake up and find Bambi passed out on the back porch!

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That's what I call pre-marinated.

Give the beer a week, and if you're on the left coast or Great Lakes region, pop it outside (overnight -- don't keep it anywhere the sun can get at it) to help stuff break.

After that, you're free to start the bottling process -- you do have another sanitized bucket for mixing the dextrose, right?

Update:

The krausen dropped out sometime between checking on Monday and Tuesday. To be safe, I let it sit until this morning (only active action was to check FG each day). It kept rock solid at 1.012, so I racked to a bottling bucket, primed, and bottled.