Release the Krausen?

[Nubiwan]

I have a separate post on her relating to my return to brewing after several years. I have been trying to find answers to most questions I have, but some are difficult to find.

So here it is.

I have less than 2 inch headspace in the top of my primary. I was fiddling around trying to get the temps just right for the yeast pitch, and my level went a little higher in my primary than planned.

Got up this AM, and the top had blown off my air-lock, even at less than 64 F in my primary. It was a beautiful thing as I feared I'd killed off my yeast. I replaced the air lock with a blow off tube. Now I am getting krausen and bubbles into my blow off vessel.

My question, does a good beer rely on the development of the Krausen inside the primary? Is it a good thing, having it sit atop the wort, or is half of it blowing off down my tube, even better? No different?

Should I maintain a decent headspace for Krausen development in future?

OR

Is it OK to release the Krausen?

 

[ESBrewer]

I think two inches will be enough for healthy fermentation. In fact, some breweries are skimming the top of the krausen to get rid of some bitter compounds that tend to sit there and yeast can also be collected from the top (top cropping). Just make sure that you have starsan or equivalent in the blow off bucket and that the tube won't become clogged by yeast & wort. In the future, I would leave more headspace, though.

 

[cactusgarrett]

does a good beer rely on the development of the Krausen inside the primary?

There are quite a few beers I make that barely develop a krausen at all. The more subdued ones come from lagers and mix fermented sours. There's no correlation to "good beer = krausen presence" - it's just dependent on a number of things, mainly yeast (cell count, health, etc.). Allowing the krausen via more headspace is more of a process thing, as it's less of a pain in the a** to worry about a clogged airlock, change out the blowoff container, etc.

 

[Pappers_]

Krausen going down your blow off tube to the pitcher or bucket collecting your blowoff is fine - thats why we use blowoff tubes. Congrats on your vigorous fermentation!

 

[Rob2010SS]

I always fill my 6 gallon carboys up to about the 5.5 gallon mark and just stick a blow off tube on it from day one. Once fermentation slows down and blow off stops, I switch over to an airlock. Yeah, you get quite a bit of blowoff but as long as you're prepared for it and are ready for it, it's a non-issue.

In answer to your questions, it's however you want to do it. If you don't want to deal with a blow off tube and the blow off container, leave more room in your carboy. If you're ok with the blow off setup, go that route. You get more finished beer in the end! Either method won't affect your beer.

 

[Nubiwan]

Hey, thanks one and all for some great answers. Really is helping me out.

I will put my next question here, as it is somewhat related to the blow off and / or air lock. If I am taking a gravity reading with my Hydrometer, and using the spigot / tap / faucet at the bottom of my primary to get my sample, should I relieve the pressure on my air lock or blow off, so that crap does not get sucked back when I open the tap? Is that a common practice?

Is it not easier than using a turkey baster sucking out wort from the air lock?

 

[ApolloSimcoe]

i believe that I read somewhere that Ayinger blows off all the krausen for their Oktoberfest. Could be rumor

 

[Rob2010SS]

I think it depends... If you were pulling a small tiny sample just to taste, it wouldn't matter because you're not taking enough to cause that much suck back. In that case, I would not. If you were pulling a hydrometer sample, then I would simply because pulling that much out you will definitely get some suck back. I know it's harmless but I try and keep too much suck back from going into the beer.