Decent Amount of Krausen on Day 8 - Problem?

[polamalu43]

I am making an IPA with 7.5 lbs of DME, some crystal 40, carapils, a little bit of flaked wheat and WLP001 (California Ale).

I went to add my first dry hopping on day 8 in the primary. There was still a thick layer of krausen. Is this a problem?

I've never had this happen before, and this is my 17th or 18th batch. The beer took off fast, but now I fear that I have "stuck" fermentation. It's bubbling every 12 seconds or so, by the way. This means that it's probably still fermenting and I should RDWHAHB, right?

 

[Fingers]

This means that it's probably still fermenting and I should RDWHAHB, right?

Yeah, that's right. It isn't stuck if it's still bubbling and creating krausen. You're probably fermenting at a lower temperature than you're used to. Is your brew in the basement? Often the time between summer's heat and firing up winter's furnace can keep the cellar cooler than normal. In any case, let it do its thing.

If you're really worried, check the gravity from time to time. You'll see the change.

 

[Gordie]

You're alright. Give it a bit of time and wait for the krausen to fall. Its all good.

 

[Bob]

Wait. Let the fermentation complete. You don't want to waste the dry-hops by letting fermentation activity scrub the essential oils with carbon dioxide.

For that matter, I'm wondering why on earth you want to dry-hop in the primary. Common convention is to rack to secondary and dry hop after the beer is completely de-gassed. Why for you want to do that, meester?

Bob