don't fear the foam... they say

[wgonfan]

about 8 days ago I racked a pale ale into my BB secondary (8 days in primary, FG 1.014). After seeing the threads about the star san foam being ok & even beneficial I decided to rack under the foam. well, 8 days later I still have some foamy spots on top of the beer & yeast rafts under the foam spots. I've swirled and the foam spreads out but eventually regroup. The spots almost look like mold, but I can tell its just tiny foam bubbles. It almost looks like co2 bubbles, but slightly different. I'm wondering if this is ever going to go away and if these foam spots are keeping my yeast active (still have lots of floaties) I was planning on bottling in another 5 days but I fear I'll end up with floaties in the bottles. I don't really care about clarity, but since I'm trying to introduce new people to better beer I want to avoid floaties and such. What course of action should I take? I don't really have fridge space to cold crash & this is the first brew that I didn't use irish moss in. suggestions?

 

[Revvy]

That's not starsan foam, that just regular krausen and other gunk. Obviously you still have fermentation activity. What's your gravity?

The starsan foam was long turned into yeast food.

 

[Revvy]

8 days is really nothing. In fact if you had a 3 day perfectly normal lag between yeast pitch and fermentation beginning, it's very possible you're only on day 5 of actual fermentation.

That's why the only thing of importance is a gravity reading.

 

[duboman]

That's not starsan foam, that just regular krausen and other gunk. Obviously you still have fermentation activity. What's your gravity?

The starsan foam was long turned into yeast food.

I have to agree with Revvy, even though it was 8 days it would seem you racked too early and still have fermentation occurring, I'll bet if you take a gravity it'll be less than the 1.014 you had previously measured.

Now you'll just have to wait until it is truly done fermenting and that should be done by taking a reading over a couple days to be sure there is no change

 

[wgonfan]

fermentation started about 12 hours after pitching at 70 degrees. OG was 1.051, after 3.5days from initial signs of fermentation the Gravity hit 1.014 and stayed there for another 4 days so I racked it. (1.014 is the expected FG on this recipe; which I was surprised to get). This doesn't look like krausen. Its only about .25mm tall if that. they are tiny tiny bubbles eat spot is no bigger than a pea & they line the out edge of the BB spaced out about 1inch between. if I swirl the fermenter the spots spread out like a river, but regroup in the dots a few hours later. I watched the star san foam fall into these dots over about 2 hours time. It may not be star san & could be yeast by product.

I guess you guys are right, more fermentation may have kicked off. i should note that the beer was kept around 66degrees (60 ambient) until I moved it to secondary. now it sits around 68/70.

btw, I'm not suspecting an infection, it looks nothing like bacteria colonies.

 

[wolfstar]

Sounds like your beer is going give you some pretty good head in a few weeks with retention like that....

 

[wgonfan]

insert unneeded joke concerning "giving head" here.

 

[homebrewdad]

Also, stop stirring your beer! You are going to oxidize it.

Leave it alone. The yeast know how to make beer, and they don't need your help.

 

[wgonfan]

Im not stirring it, just slightly leaning the better bottle to one side a tiny bit. Thanks for the input. Im sure its fine, I was just curious if this was normal when leaving star san foam in the fermenter. I guess ill wait to bottle until the yeast rafts drop

 

[malkore]

I would stop racking the beer as soon as you think primary is done.

Taking it off the yeast cake removes the yeasts ability to clean up any off flavors like acetylaldehyde.

Seriously take a look into 3-week primary, no secondary methods. Its less work and better beer. Most beers don't need a secondary, even to clear it.
Big breweries only do it because secondaries are cheaper than primaries, and autolysis is a bigger concern when you have 15BBL (or more) pushing down on the yeast cake, vs. just 5 or 10 gallons.

 

[wgonfan]

I would stop racking the beer as soon as you think primary is done.

Taking it off the yeast cake removes the yeasts ability to clean up any off flavors like acetylaldehyde.

Seriously take a look into 3-week primary, no secondary methods. Its less work and better beer. Most beers don't need a secondary, even to clear it.
Big breweries only do it because secondaries are cheaper than primaries, and autolysis is a bigger concern when you have 15BBL (or more) pushing down on the yeast cake, vs. just 5 or 10 gallons.

I've been meaning to research the whole secondary vs no secondary debate. Thanks for the info. The main reason I move the beer is to free up a fermenter & also it is a bit easier to move wort from my kettle to a bucket instead of the cardboy .

 

[helibrewer]

No harm in moving it....4 days at 1.014 is plenty of time for clean-up....you just encouraged a little more fermentation by rousing the yeast then warming it a few degrees...all is well with the brew.

 

[alaskana]

Yup, that Star San you speak of is long gone as it provided nutrients for the beasties and eventually became one with the wort. What you are seeing is most likely C02 bubbles from some latent fermentation activity or other detritus such as yeast rafts and other fermentation by products. In any case, if you are really concerned about floaties consider straining your beer (gently so as to minimize oxidation) into your keg or bottling bucket. RDWHAHB.

 

[HibsMax]

Also, stop stirring your beer! You are going to oxidize it.

Assuming there is no oxygen in the vessel, how would oxidation occur? I've read that statement a few times. Obviously if there is a blanket of O and N sitting atop a blanket of CO2, shaking and stirring can result in oxidation...so no confusion for me if that's what you mean.

 

[OfficerMitchel]

Assuming there is no oxygen in the vessel, how would oxidation occur? I've read that statement a few times. Obviously if there is a blanket of O and N sitting atop a blanket of CO2, shaking and stirring can result in oxidation...so no confusion for me if that's what you mean.

Oxygen is held in solution in water (just like the CO2 in carbonation). This is what fish breath. Any movement of the water will release some of this solution. This is what we do when we agitate or stir the wort, releasing some of the dissolved O2 for the yeast to munch on. Most of the O2 will be reabsorbed, but some will stay released and what isn't consumed by the yeasts will try to combine with other products in the water. This is "oxidation" and is bad for beer.

 

[pelipen]

Oxygen is held in solution in water (just like the CO2 in carbonation). This is what fish breath. Any movement of the water will release some of this solution. This is what we do when we agitate or stir the wort, releasing some of the dissolved O2 for the yeast to munch on. Most of the O2 will be reabsorbed, but some will stay released and what isn't consumed by the yeasts will try to combine with other products in the water. This is "oxidation" and is bad for beer.

That sounds backward to me. Shaking, stirring, agitating, before fermentation, will dissolve oxygen from the air space into the wort. Yeast will then consume this and multiply. Once the oxygen is consumed, they begin the anaerobic cycle, which means "without oxygen", creating alcohol.
Shaking a sealed container after fermentation should not oxidize.