does a HUUUUUUGE Krausen head mean anything?

[MrEcted1]

Hello,

I am just wondering if a huge krausen head means anything. I've brewed 4 or 5 beers before and they usually have a nice rocky krausen head, but the one I have now is rediculous. I am brewing a 5 gallon batch in a 6.5 gallon carboy and the krausen head goes all the way up to the top, I almost need a blow-off hose instead of this air-lock. Here is an image (sorry bad picture cuz my digital camera broke so I had to use my crappy camera on my camera phone)

I was pleasantly suprised to see this. Like I said, i've had some nice rocky ones and all beers have turned out good thus far, but this one is rediculous! What does it mean?

Thanks!
- Steven

 

[Baron von BeeGee]

Nice active yeast and lots of protein...you're in good shape!

 

[MrEcted1]

Nice active yeast and lots of protein...you're in good shape!

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaay! Man, I love homebrew!!!

 

[olllllo]

It means your a stud.

 

[MattD]

I had much the same thing happen on my current brew. OG 1.100, White labs WPL570 in a 750 ml starter. 5 gallon batch in a 6.5 gal carboy, capped and airlocked. Blew the cap off, beer hit the ceiling, in the 15 minutes or so it took me to get a blow off tube sterilized and set up, foam was still pouring out over the top. Blow off tube was still spitting foam into the water pan 24 hours later. I've finally got it back to an airlock, but that was quite an experience. I'd just chalk it up to a great active yeast, and lots of good sugar for it to eat!

 

[MrEcted1]

Couple more questions.

I didn't end up using a blow-off tube cuz I thought I was safe.... mistake.

My airlock was full of fermenting beer. I used vanilla vodka in my airlock along with water originally (1/2 water, 1/2 vodka), if that little bit of vodka ended up making it into the beer then will that affect the taste?

Also, when I woke up this morning I woke up late for work so I only had time to clean and sanitize the airlock. I don't risk infection since I had the airlock out for a few minutes do I? I left the bung in, just cleaned and sanitized the airlock and put it back. It's bubbling like mad now, but I don't think it will go through the airlock again.

Thanks!

 

[Walker]

Relax. The vidka will not affect the taste and you run a very VERY low risk of infection (like 0.0000001% maybe) from taking out the airlock for a few minutes.

brew on!:rockin:

Couple more questions.

I didn't end up using a blow-off tube cuz I thought I was safe.... mistake.

My airlock was full of fermenting beer. I used vanilla vodka in my airlock along with water originally (1/2 water, 1/2 vodka), if that little bit of vodka ended up making it into the beer then will that affect the taste?

Also, when I woke up this morning I woke up late for work so I only had time to clean and sanitize the airlock. I don't risk infection since I had the airlock out for a few minutes do I? I left the bung in, just cleaned and sanitized the airlock and put it back. It's bubbling like mad now, but I don't think it will go through the airlock again.

Thanks!

 

[Truble]

sounds like you should be fine. I have had brews that I had to clean the airlock out daily. With that much activity, the primary is operating under positive pressure, meaning that airborne beasties will have a tough time making it in.

I now keep a clean airlock on hand when I think I might run into trouble. If I see trouble, I just boil a couple cups of water in a saucepan, which takes only a couple minutes, drop the airlock in when the water starts to boil after turning the heat off, fill it up 1/2 way with the boiled water (I use 2 piece locks), spray the tip, and swap them out. total time is maybe 10 minutes. Haven't run into issues yet in my first year of brewing!

 

[StoutMeister]

LoL yeah we hav ehad a few popers in our brew carrers...worst one was a huge mess on the kitchen floor that the wife made me mop the whole damm floor...was still sticky for weeks... i allways plan a big blow up and use a tube for the primary fermentation...airlock for secondary unless i am makeing a mead...

 

[boldone]

I have the reverse issue. I have had good 3 to 4 inch krausens and I just brewed a light ale that produced a lot of airlock activity in the 1st 24 hours, but only about a 1/2 inch of krausen. There is a large amount of yeast settling to the bottom of the carboy. Should this be a concern?

 

[Evan!]

I have the reverse issue. I have had good 3 to 4 inch krausens and I just brewed a light ale that produced a lot of airlock activity in the 1st 24 hours, but only about a 1/2 inch of krausen. There is a large amount of yeast settling to the bottom of the carboy. Should this be a concern?

Don't be worrying so much about your krausen size, just be sure to take hydro readings after airlock activity has subsided.

A similar thing happened to me not long ago. I recently brewed an oatmeal stout, pitched with rehydrated dry yeast. I had a 2" krausen head roughly an hour after pitching, which far undercuts any other batch in terms of duration. However, even though I had a large krausen quickly, there was no airlock activity. Then, as soon as I started seeing airlock activity (maybe an hour after the krausen reached full thickness), the krausen started to subside, as if there were oils or something killing the bubbles. Anyway, by the next morning, I had NO krausen, but still a ton of airlock activity. It's still in primary, so I haven't taken a hydro reading yet, but since I saw airlock activity for over a week, I think it'll be fine.

Like I said, take hydrometer readings to make sure your yeast didn't suddenly go on strike...but I highly doubt it, especially if you still have plenty of airlock activity.

DWRHAHB.

 

[olllllo]

Couple more questions.
I didn't end up using a blow-off tube cuz I thought I was safe.... mistake.
My airlock was full of fermenting beer.

No longer a stud, just a school-boy (but Stud-in-training.)

Beer will be fine.

 

[Truble]

Truth be told, I have never actually seen any of my krausens. I use a bucket with a lid as a primary, and don't ever open until at least 1 full week. Now, I have seen some of my krausen that thought my primary wasn't good enough for it, and decided to exit through the airlock, but that is another story......


I do get to see the scum line from where high krausen was, though.

 

[Engelramm]

Truth be told, I have never actually seen any of my krausens. I use a bucket with a lid as a primary, and don't ever open until at least 1 full week. Now, I have seen some of my krausen that thought my primary wasn't good enough for it, and decided to exit through the airlock, but that is another story......


I do get to see the scum line from where high krausen was, though.

Same here. I always call my wife over to check out the "scum line" just to see her wrinkle up her nose.

"Hey honey, come look at my scum line!"

 

[alemonkey]

As long as it ferments out totally you're ok. If it's a low OG you probably fermented out most of the sugars in the first 24 hours.

 

[EvilTOJ]

"Hey honey, come look at my scum line!"

Last time I said that I had to wash ALL of my underwear, and sleep on the couch.