weizenbier Krausen still active - 3wks

[morrowboarder]

I would post a picture, but my 3gs iphone lacks quality up close. We'll have to wait until my iphone 5 gets here next week.

Anyway, here's the story.... I have a weizenbier kit that had expired yeast so I let it sit in storage for 2 years. During that time, the kit was exposed to freezing temperatures as well as the dog days of summer. One weekend, I decided to go and buy some Wb-06 wheat ale yeast and start the batch. Did everything like I normally would (mildly experienced, but no terrible batches) and pitched the yeast into the wort (70 degrees). I didn't do a starter for this one, just pitched it in dry and let it sit on top. The fermentation started within 8 hours and everything looked normal with the exception that the krausen was thin, about an inch. The carboy has been sitting in 70 degrees ambient temperatures steady for the whole duration in my dark closet. 3 weeks now and the krausen is still present and the airlock is active and bubbling every 2 minutes. I can even see bubbles forming and popping in the krausen. Starting gravity was 1.04 and I haven't taken a gravity since.

I'm not worried about infection, just would like to know what gives? I've done other wheats and the airlock usually stops in the first week and the krausen is no longer visible in a week. My IPA wheat is textbook at the moment. I know you cannot benchmark those two types, but whatever. Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[morrowboarder]

Well, I bottled anyway. The gravity didn't change over three days. The krausen never fell so I siphoned from under. I checked it out in the bottle after 4 days and it seemed well carbonated already and still had some priming sugar sweetness to the taste. I hope I didn't create some beer bombs as a result. I normally stick to the tablets for priming, but the local store was out. I rarely use the corn sugar priming solution. On the other hand, I bottled my wheat IPA and it doesn't seem to be carbonating well at all. It still has a week to go, so I'll wait and see what happens.