Complete fermentation with no krausen

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crlova2

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I fermented an american wheat with Safale US-05 at 62 ambient temp. The yeast seemed to have dropped out by day 3 and their was basically no krausen formed other than hops sludge that formed about 2 cm high at the top for a day or so. I checked the fgravity readings 9 days in and they are at 1.009! Way lower than I wanted or expected without a krausen. Is this normal? I have never had a beer without a large krausen....
 
100% fine! :mug:

And if you're wondering why the FG got so low, US-05 is a beast. Hardcore attenuation machines.

EDIT: Did you check it before the 3rd day? It may have just been small and quick. [Insert joke here]
 
+1 on US-05, i picked it up one time because my lhbs was out of notty, never looked back. i just brewed a red rye ale that didnt form a krausen. but the hydrometer tells the tail.
 
With rehydrated US-05, I get crazy krausen usually. I just did a batch with WLP002 and I got only about a 1/2" of krausen, but crazy activity inside the fermenter. It reached final gravity and flocculated within 3-4 days.
 
I didn't rehydrate. I forgot by the time I wanted to pitch I didn't want to wait another 45 mintues. Maybe that has something to do with no krausen. Anyone have any knowledge on what kind of flavors it will put off with ~63-64F ferment temp? That is what it was at the first 7 days then I moved it to my condo which is about 73 ambient to sit for another 3 weeks.
 
Chico will be basically flavorless in the low to mid 60s. I recently did a Chico fermentation on a dIPA at 70F and it's hard to detect any resulting flavors (though the hops are probably helping mask anything that's there).
 
FYI... that nearly 1" high "hop sludge" you were talking about there..... that was your kraeusen.

I guess I didn't realize 2 cm was nearly 1". It definitely wasn't that high it was probably more like a half a centimeter. No worries though as long as it fermented and tastes good.
 
i've had some crazy results, too. i brewed up a 1.070 stout that never "krausened". sometimes it just don't happen. if the hydro says it, it's probably true.
 
interesting... glad I saw this. Pitched US-05 for first time into two mr beer batches, 6 hours later no krausen. Worried I may have pitched wrong (at 70°F instead of how I normally do it, right after pouring wort).

Guess I'll wait a little while and take a hydro reading to see if it's actually working.
 
The amount of krausen can vary for whatever reason, it can come quick and depart quickly or it can linger long after fermentation is complete, and it all be normal.
 
interesting... glad I saw this. Pitched US-05 for first time into two mr beer batches, 6 hours later no krausen. Worried I may have pitched wrong (at 70°F instead of how I normally do it, right after pouring wort).

Guess I'll wait a little while and take a hydro reading to see if it's actually working.

6 hours is not nearly enough time to know if it's begun fermentation. It can sometimes take 24-72 hours for visible signs of fermentation to show. Trust your hydrometer :mug:
 
Thought I should pop back in... there were some signs of fermentation 48 hours later. Not a thick krausen layer like i've normally seen, but a light foam on the top that wasn't there before..

I think some yeast that were shipped in 100°F heat died off and i probably started with a low cell count to begin with (houston heat). When the beer supplies arrived they were hot to the touch. Other post regarding us-05 seem to state vigorous fermentation from the get-go. So in my worry i ran out and bought another packet from LHBS (defalco's) which keep theirs in a fridge.

If i left it alone it would have probably worked out, but i ended up buying another packet and re-hydrating it then pitching. Less than 4 hours later there's a thick krausen layer *golf clap*.

I just hope pitching 2x yeast doesn't yield off flavors, perhaps this time around i'll try some finings to knock out more yeast than normal before kegging it.
 
I just hope pitching 2x yeast doesn't yield off flavors, perhaps this time around i'll try some finings to knock out more yeast than normal before kegging it.

Actually overpitching, especially with a really clean yeast like US-05 (and proper temperatures of course) will produce less off flavors, many of which are caused during the reproduction phase. Yeast will reproduce until there is the perfect density for them to thrive the best.... ~10mil cells per ml or something like that (don't hurt me if I'm wrong!!! :D)

More pitched yeast means less reproduction and thus less byproducts.
 

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