Are you a top sludge remover ?

[bobtheUKbrewer2]

I always take off the cream foam and brown sludge 2 or 3 times a day until no more forms on top - can't believe that stuff benefits the brew.....

 

[hunter_le five]

You mean krausen?

No, I've never removed it.

 

[Twinkeelfool]

If I'm using a top cropping uk strain, hell yes, it's great healthy yeast. Much better than collecting from the bottom

 

[PhillyMike]

Why risk infection? Krausen does no harm to the beer.


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[Grannyknot]

ummm....is this a piss take?

 

[krackin]

Skimming is an old wive's tale unless you are harvesting. I did that back in the early '70s because that was what I was told to do.

 

[jmcquesten]

Why would you do that? It eventually drops to the bottom. Seems like an unnecessary risk to me. Leave the fermenter closed.

 

[RonPopeil]

My fermenters are time capsules. I don't crack them until I think they should be ready to go.

 

[poptarts]

There are very few if any professional breweries that do this, I find it hard to believe that yeast is bad for beer.

 

[bobtheUKbrewer2]

Professional breweries - at least in the UK - usually have closed fermenters and taking it off would be very difficult. There is a CO2 blanket above my beer and so infection is a small risk - only 2 infected beers in 45 years and I can't remember if I skimmed the yeast on those. I get a dried on brown tidemark if I don't skim. It is not a joke post by the way...

 

[skw]

How does CO2 minimize the infection risk? Lacto and Brett don't require O2, they'll infect your batch with or without CO2. CO2 is just a gas, bacteria fall through it, they don't bounce off of it.

People say the brown sludge tastes bitter and therefore they don't want it in their beer. Ever sucked on a hop pellet? Not tasty either, but we want them in our beer.

I've skimmed the brown stuff from two beers, because I intended to top crop. Didn't taste any difference to not skimming. Since in the end, it sticks to the side of the fermenter anyway, I don't see why I would want to do extra work for no benefit.

 

[LogicBomb]

There's no good reason to so I don't.

Beer making is a pretty "icky" process until the very end. You're soaking and gelatinizing grains, throwing leafy hop matter into the pot of boiling grain-water, creating a ton of proteins and coagulation and debris, putting bare copper piping into the pot to cool it down, throwing billions of living cells into the resulting sludge mixture and all of a sudden you are worried about the bubbly sludge on top? Even while the yeast are dancing in large chunks at sometimes alarming velocities?

Do what you want but I see no reason to start getting nervous about a little krausen with all the other crazy and icky stuff going on. In 2-3 weeks there is clear beer to keg and it comes out delicious without any fussing with it.

 

[Twinkeelfool]

This is how I fermented the last batch of brown porter. Inspired by the uk "open square" fermentors. I pitched healthy stir plate grown yeast, and overnight had a nice krausen. I skimmed the first lot. As it contains a bit if junk and trub, but after that I harvested some nice tan, creamy mousse that I can use again.

The beer has a wonderful ester profile and I'll do it again.

 

[bobtheUKbrewer2]

CO2 is just a gas, bacteria fall through it, they don't bounce off of it.

If bacteria "float about" in air, rather than sink through it, and CO2 is more dense than air, then why do bacteria "fall through it"

we are getting a little off topic, my concern is the possible adverse effects of the sludge falling through the beer, but I do appreciate all answers and opinions

 

[j1n]

CO2 is just a gas, bacteria fall through it, they don't bounce off of it.

If bacteria "float about" in air, rather than sink through it, and CO2 is more dense than air, then why do bacteria "fall through it"

we are getting a little off topic, my concern is the possible adverse effects of the sludge falling through the beer, but I do appreciate all answers and opinions

because they have no way of getting in, in the first place. Normally you would have the top closed and an airlock with some sanitizer solution or vodka in the air lock. The air lock separates the air from the fermentor to the outside air. Then you have co2 being produced by the yeast that pushes out of the fermentor.

But back to the topic. Its an unnecessary process and adds some risk. I would find it very annoying if i had to skim that off a few times a day.