Krausen, Yummm Beer Foam! Where does it go?

I just switch to using the 6gal Better Bottles from 8 gal buckets. I had two 5 gal batches blow krausen all over the ferment chamber this weekend. I went to clean up the mess, I saw this lovely foam coming out the top of the BB and thought to myself, hummm I like beer, beer foam is good. I took a large handful of the krausen and proceeded to cram this handful of krausen into my mouth. I spent the next 5 minutes washing my mouth out with soap.

So, now that I have a firsthand up close encounter with the taste of krausen where the h*ll does this taste go? I know some krausen sticks to the side of the fermenter but not all of the krausen does. I would think one tablespoon of this ... stuff would ruin a beer. This krausen taste is so bad I would think any beer with this any of this sh8t in it could never taste any good.

So where does it go?

It falls to the bottom and is left behind when you rack your beer off the yeast.

And forms that "ring around the collar" above the liquid line.

I'm picturing someone scooping a handful and shoving it in their mouths and I can't stop laughing.. I'm not sure what part of krausen seemed appetizing..

sboyajian said:

I'm picturing someone scooping a handful and shoving it in their mouths and I can't stop laughing.. I'm not sure what part of krausen seemed appetizing..

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It kinda looked like beer foam!

broncosaurs said:

It kinda looked like beer foam!

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Going by that logic, you'll probably only try that with a few byproducts of chemical reactions until you really end up hurting yourself.

When I saw the krausen

And after I ate the krausen

So if all the krausen that does not stick to wall falls to the bottom and does not affect the taste if I stirred the krausen into the wort and then let it set for a week and rack to secondary there would be no difference then if I didn't stir in the krausen?

It would be a great experiment to split a batch and fill up a better bottle most all the way to the top so most all krausen blows out the top. To bad I don't have the smaller BB. Anyone with a few 3gal BB want to give it a try?

that taste is why many people suggest that if you're ever swirling your beer to not let it knock the krausen ring back down. some call that flavor astringent, though i'm betting they never actually straight up tasted krausen. did it taste astringent to you?

that ring crud is just plain bitter & nasty...nevermind how I know that...

unionrdr said:

that ring crud is just plain bitter & nasty...nevermind how I know that...

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I knew I wasn't the only one!

I would have to say the taste is astringent and bitter. I was trying so hard to get it out of my mouth I didn't think to much of "what" it tasted like. It is so so bad I just can't believe the krausen can't affect the beer. I understand the ring sticks to the side but what about all the rest of the krausen in the middle, where does it go? Are you sure it sinks to the bottom and does not impair a taste to the beer?

Maybe we can get brulosphy to do a exbeerament.

sboyajian said:

I'm picturing someone scooping a handful and shoving it in their mouths and I can't stop laughing.. I'm not sure what part of krausen seemed appetizing..

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This! I needed a good laugh.

broncosaurs said:

I knew I wasn't the only one!

I would have to say the taste is astringent and bitter. I was trying so hard to get it out of my mouth I didn't think to much of "what" it tasted like. It is so so bad I just can't believe the krausen can't affect the beer. I understand the ring sticks to the side but what about all the rest of the krausen in the middle, where does it go? Are you sure it sinks to the bottom and does not impair a taste to the beer?

Maybe we can get brulosphy to do a exbeerament.

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I don't think it affects it any... and if it did, there would be numerous suggestions to scoop off the krausen as it forms.

Think about that small amount of liquid that the krausen must make up and drop that into 5 gallons of water. Do you think it would change the taste of that 5 gals of water at all?

Now add hops, malt, yeast, alcohol to the mix, and well... you see where I'm going.

Psylocide said:

Do you think it would change the taste of that 5 gals of water at all?.

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After tasting the krausen I do think it would affect the taste of 5 gallons. Heck, I think the mouth full would affect a 20 gallon batch!

Jetski, if only I had a video, I can't imagine what my face muse have looked like.

What you tasted was the usual yeast foam (krausen) with the extra crud from hops, etc mixed with it that separates out & sticks to the sides when the foam goes back down into the beer. So the nastiest part sticks to the sides while the yeast foam sinks. Just don't mix that crud back in unless cat wizz, shiz & bile are something you enjoy... Which leads me to think the swirling motion during initial fermentation does indeed swirl up & down, but up the center & down the sides, since the nastiest part of the krausen always sticks to the sides.