so my krausen is no longer in my beer

[gunsout]

did my first brew day last sunday. had some good things and bad. was way under on my gravity. but to the main point of this. so i didnt measure volume going in my better bottle ferm chamber. i piched my yeast a little warm and was worried i killed it off. it took a while to start ferm but it did happen for what seemed to be one active day bubbling. when that took place the krausen ended up on the top of the ferm chamber and no longer touches the beer because the volume reduced or the foaming from fermentation went down. I have not take any gravities lately as i said its been in the ferm chamber 5 days. im wondering if i should try and scrape the krausen off the top back into the wort or let it go. also will i more than likely need to pitch more yeast. Sorry for the long explanation. thanks, adam

 

[strangebrew14]

Classic question that comes up for the newbs. Since you are only 5 days in I wpuld wait about 5 more days and take a gravity reading. Since you had a lower OG I would adjust your expected FG a smidge. Rest assured at the end of the day you still made beer :0) good luck and welcome to the obsession.

 

[kaconga]

No. There is enough yeast to finish the job. Let it ride and just clean up the dried krausen when it is all done and bottled. There is a greater chance you will ruin the beer by futzing around with the krausen.

Now for the gravity being off. Was this an extract kit? If so then the og is notoriously hard to get accurately with a hydrometer due to stratification. To figure out your true OG just take the desired volume and divide it by the actual volume and multiply that by the OG number that came in the kit.

 

[benco]

Leave the krausen alone and take a gravity reading.

 

[byrnsey]

You can't tilt the fermentor?

Assuming you managed to mechanically separate your yeast from your beer to the point of complete sterilization (probably a Nobel for Medicine if you can prove it), if you splash some sugar water up into the congealed yeast, you'll knock some back in and wake it up.

Just make sure keep your airlock clean.

 

[gunsout]

AG i had a serious boil over with the hot break and not paying attention (noob) had to sparge way more than i should have. thats why my gravity is way low i think. and glad it doesnt matter. i would have searched but i figured this never happened before. crazy though but i thought it might b true. tilting the ferm doesnt pull the krausen off the top

 

[kaconga]

If your gravity was low and you pitched on the warm side then it is entirely possible the beer is done fermenting in 5 days. Take a reading and see where you are at.

 

[gunsout]

1.018 is looking like my FG. I just want to make sure the main reason for my low efficiency and bad OG is due to the boil over. I would assume that having to use more sparge water would take a big bite out of the gravity. Thanks, Adam

 

[worlddivides]

Now for the gravity being off. Was this an extract kit? If so then the og is notoriously hard to get accurately with a hydrometer due to stratification. To figure out your true OG just take the desired volume and divide it by the actual volume and multiply that by the OG number that came in the kit.

That's very interesting. Can you explain this? I've done a few extract with steeped specialty grains kits and my OG has always been below the range the kit says. In my most recent one, the kit said 1.052 - 1.059, but my OG was 1.047.

What is this stratification you mentioned and do you think that's the reason for the difference?

 

[kaconga]

That's very interesting. Can you explain this? I've done a few extract with steeped specialty grains kits and my OG has always been below the range the kit says. In my most recent one, the kit said 1.052 - 1.059, but my OG was 1.047.

What is this stratification you mentioned and do you think that's the reason for the difference?

There are two primary causes for gravity being off in extract beers. The first and most obvious is having an incorrect volume at the end. If you have more than 5 gallons then you will have a correspondingly lower gravity.

The second and less obvious but just as common is stratification. When two liquids of differing specific gravities are combined they will at first be separated (like a black and tan) and need to be mixed thoroughly or given time to combine fully. So lets say you boiled 3 gallons down to 2 and topped off with 3 gallons of water to get your 5 gallons, that top off water would be lighter than the higher gravity wort you boiled. One would literally sit on top of the other. Depending on how you sample your gravity could be off in either direction, but since most people sample by pulling liquid from the middle of the carboy/bucket they show a substantially lower gravity reading. Hope that clears things up!

 

[worlddivides]

Thanks! That's really helpful. I doubt it's because of the incorrect volume. The kit was for 5 gallons, but I had about 5.25 gallons or so (maybe a little less than that, actually). I seriously doubt an extra quarter of a gallon would lower the estimated gravity a full ten points. The range given was, as I said, 1.052-1.059. So I would have expected going just a little over the estimated 5 gallons might lower it a little. Just not THAT much.

The stratification thing definitely could be true because I took my gravity reading about 5 minutes or less after topping the wort off with about two and a half gallons of water.

 

[kaconga]

Thanks! That's really helpful. I doubt it's because of the incorrect volume. The kit was for 5 gallons, but I had about 5.25 gallons or so (maybe a little less than that, actually). I seriously doubt an extra quarter of a gallon would lower the estimated gravity a full ten points. The range given was, as I said, 1.052-1.059. So I would have expected going just a little over the estimated 5 gallons might lower it a little. Just not THAT much.

The stratification thing definitely could be true because I took my gravity reading about 5 minutes or less after topping the wort off with about two and a half gallons of water.

Any easy way to figure out a gravity dilution is:

SG*SV=NG*NV

Where:
SG- is starting gravity
SV- is starting volume
NG- is the new gravity
NV- is the new volume

So for your beer it would be:

52*5=NG*5.25

Solving for NG gives us a new gravity of 1.0495.

Since that would be the worst case scenario, I think the difference in measured vs expected had to be from stratification. Typically that formula is an everyday one when all grain brewing just in the other direction. We use it to determine what our post boil gravity will be based on pre boil gravity. So if you plan to all grain in the future you might want to remember that one

 

[BigPerm]

1.018 is looking like my FG. I just want to make sure the main reason for my low efficiency and bad OG is due to the boil over. I would assume that having to use more sparge water would take a big bite out of the gravity. Thanks, Adam

Provide a recipe or method. It's impossible to say whether you've got more fermentables in there without further information. This is important; 0.003 gravity is what you add when you add priming sugar (ballpark). If you prime bottles and you've got another 3-6 points to drop, better take cover.

 

[worlddivides]

Any easy way to figure out a gravity dilution is:

SG*SV=NG*NV

Where:
SG- is starting gravity
SV- is starting volume
NG- is the new gravity
NV- is the new volume

So for your beer it would be:

52*5=NG*5.25

Solving for NG gives us a new gravity of 1.0495.

Since that would be the worst case scenario, I think the difference in measured vs expected had to be from stratification. Typically that formula is an everyday one when all grain brewing just in the other direction. We use it to determine what our post boil gravity will be based on pre boil gravity. So if you plan to all grain in the future you might want to remember that one

Thanks. That's really helpful. I'll keep it in mind. I imagine my "real gravity" was closer to 1.052 or so.