Krausen question...

Ive had the Christmas Ale in the primary for 4 days now, boy am i glad I had just purchased the better bottle blow-off bung and tube! Anyways now that the blow-off seems to be over I am planning on putting a normal air-lock on the bottle tonight. My question is about the krausen. It seems to me that the krausen in my bottle is pretty sturdy. In other words, it doesn't look like it is going to fall any time soon, if at all. Do I just leave it as-is and toss on the air-lock or is there something I should do before?

I had a krausen last close to 2 weeks on a dubbel I brewed. If the blow-off is no longer needed I would put an airlock on and leave it. The krausen will drop eventually.

thanks a lot!.....this is my first batch of beer. Only done cider and graff previously.

Yes, if things have subsided enough that it's no longer blowing out the top you can replace the blow off with a standard air lock.

Beware that if you squeeze the bottle you can suck the liquid from the air lock into the beer. This can cause an infection. I put star san in my airlocks to guard against this type of probelm.

Just picking up the better bottle is enough to suck in the water from the airlock. I'm assuming your using a standard 3 piece airlock.

What yeast are you using out of interest? And where did you purchase the bung and blow-off tube for the Better Bottle. I ferment with better bottles but haven't found a bung that can house a blow-off tube

maida7 said:

Yes, if things have subsided enough that it's no longer blowing out the top you can replace the blow off with a standard air lock.

Beware that if you squeeze the bottle you can suck the liquid from the air lock into the beer. This can cause an infection. I put star san in my airlocks to guard against this type of probelm.

Just picking up the better bottle is enough to suck in the water from the airlock. I'm assuming your using a standard 3 piece airlock.

Click to expand...

Yea, I fill my airlocks with cheap vodka. Sterile, kills bacteria, and boosts abv if it gets sucked into the batch with no off flavors.

axp said:

What yeast are you using out of interest? And where did you purchase the bung and blow-off tube for the Better Bottle. I ferment with better bottles but haven't found a bung that can house a blow-off tube

Click to expand...

What size of blowoff tube are you trying to use? I use 7/16 OD 5/16 ID tubing and it fits right into a standard #6.5 drilled bung.

axp said:

What yeast are you using out of interest? And where did you purchase the bung and blow-off tube for the Better Bottle. I ferment with better bottles but haven't found a bung that can house a blow-off tube

Click to expand...

I got the Brewers best Holiday Ale kit, Ill have to check what yeast it came with when I get home. The better bottle blow-off I found by chance and its just a re-drilled bung fitted with a 1/2 inch tube but it works great! Here is the link to where I got mine from http://www.heartshomebrew.com/home_brew_beer.cgi?cart_id=4968029.16594*du8La5&p_id=7107V&xm=on&ppinc=dave2full


*note* the heartshomebrew website is a bit "old" (lots of .gif animations and clipart) as websites go nowadays but my order was taken and shipped very quickly regardless. Also the image of the blowoff in the product description differs a little from the product I received. The bung that came with mine is this type

You can also just use the normal 3 piece airlock and attach a hose directly to airlock.