Belgian witbier kraeusen

[Rahjah]

I cooked up a Belgian witbier earlier this month using an extract recipe and after 20 days the kraeusen has fallen but still is quite thick on top of the fermenter. Is this normal for a witbier? I used WYeast Belgian Witbier 3944.

I was going to take a gravity reading to see where I am at but feel that I should wait until the kraeusen has receded more....but am also getting impatient to take a gravity reading (and enjoy the sample) and get on with bottling this batch.

Anyone else experience such a long-lasting kraeusen when brewing witbiers?

 

[Rev2010]

I just typed up a whole response and my a-hole friend called me and my phone reloaded the page. Anyhow, I have a batch with 3944 at 10 days in now and the krausen is starting to fall. Already fell on my other batch with 3463, same time in the fermenter. What was your OG and what temp are you fermenting at? Mine is 1.050 and started at 68F but has now fallen to 66.


Rev.

 

[Rahjah]

It is fermenting at about 62 F. Initial fermentation was strong, and a thick (almost caramel looking) kraeusen developed reaching a height of about 3 inches before receding to 3/4 inch where it has stayed for over a week now. Never seen foam like this before, it is like something from science fiction movie like The Blob. I just want it to drop down completely so I can move on to the bottle conditioning and consumption part. Spring is right around the corner...

I did not take an OG and am now thinking that my turkey baster "wine thief" will not be long enough to grab a sample out of the 6.5 gallon carboy to monitor if it is ready for bottling.

 

[Randar]

This yeast tends to have a sort of clumpy after-krausen... A little rocking, shaking and sloshing within the fermenter will drop it out. Do it a couple times and you should be good to go.

 

[Rahjah]

This yeast tends to have a sort of clumpy after-krausen... A little rocking, shaking and sloshing within the fermenter will drop it out. Do it a couple times and you should be good to go.

Cheers! Thanks for the advice. Will give it a try and hopefully be bottling this soon

 

[Randar]

Cheers! Thanks for the advice. Will give it a try and hopefully be bottling this soon

Especially with this style you don't have to worry too much. It is characteristic of the style to have a lot of yeast character and for the yeast to be a part of the served beverage, but I still like to see the krausen settle out before bottling, so that's how I do it.

Enjoy.

 

[Dabruman]

I wouldn't worry. I recently brewed my first wit and the kreusen hung in there for 3 weeks. I checked my gravity by siphoning (only way I could get to it), and it was nearly finished (about .004 high), so I switched it to secondary just for 4 days to get rid of a bunch of orange peel then bottled. It tasted ready then, though not carbed, but it's fantastic now.