First AG brew, using yeast never used before...Krausen OK?

[RhoadsRunner]

Hey Friends,

So I just did my first AG beer 1.5 weeks ago, was getting ready to rack and saw the picture below. I've never seen a krausen that looked like - but have never done all grain, and never used a "smack pack" yeast pack with a starter...went ahead with the rack after reading that this particular yeast (Wyeast 1945) doesn't always fall back in after initial fermentation.

In short, does that look normal?

Brewed a nut brown ale AG kit from northern brewer, OG at 1.044, gravity at rack 1.014, FG wanted 1.010ish.

Thanks in advance for any input!
WjR

 

[dawgmatic]

Yeah that looked completely normal. I probably would have just sealed that guy back up for a week longer and then put it somewhere cold so the yeast would fall out of suspension. But I guess its too late now to say leave it alone. oh well I'm sure it will taste fine

 

[PLOVE]

dagmatic's right - completely normal. A bit surprised you had krausen at 1.014, but it sometimes takes time for the yeasties to sink to the bottom of the pail where they belong.

 

[Cyclman]

Your fermentation was probably incomplete. Did you check FG over 3 days?

 

[RhoadsRunner]

I didn't check the gravity over a few days...was out of town and what y'all saw was the first time I looked at it. Like I said, I read that this particular yeast sometimes doesn't fall...since I wasn't familiar with it and the gravity was down to 014, I racked to be safe. There was still quite a bit of yeast in suspension, so I'm sure it'll finish out in the secondary. Just over the few hrs since I racked it, it has continued to ferment quietly. Good to know that looks normal. It definitely tasted right...but the look of it freaked me out.

I've heard of cold crashing in a keg to settle stuff out and get rid of it in the first flush...is cold crashing your primary common? If so, when you rack it should you keep it cold?

Thanks for the responses!

 

[helibrewer]

I cold crash in primary all the time, I rarely do a secondary. When racking to bottle it you don't have to do anything special just put the bottles in a warm place to condition for 2-3 weeks once you're done.

 

[RhoadsRunner]

Definitely wasn't finished fermenting. Looks like I got enough yeast in there to form a new, yet smaller krausen. Probably leave it for a week, cold crash a day, and keg.