Fermentation concerns... looking for some guidance

[m00man2839]

Hey All,

I am currently 6 days into fermentation of a NB Cream Ale extract 5 gal. First 48 hours I saw a ton of activty. Now i have a thick layer of krausen siting at the top, but there is no activity at all. I feel like the Krausen should of subsided by now.

Looking for some guidance/reassurance here...

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[brewpool]

What temperature did you start fermentation at and how has it changed throughout? You make a yeast starter? How big of one? I don't think it's much to sweat 6 days in imo

 

[m00man2839]

.

 

[m00man2839]

What temperature did you start fermentation at and how has it changed throughout? You make a yeast starter? How big of one? I don't think it's much to sweat 6 days in imo

Ive kept it between 60-64 degrees most of the time, utilizing a brew cool bag and rotating gallon jugs of ice every 12 hrs. I did do a liquid yeast starter, but i think it was bad, so i also threw in a dry S-05 before fermentation. I feel like every batch ive done previously has subsided by now, those though have all come out meh, so maybe this is good. Just want it to be a good batch finally, thats all

 

[CU_tony]

RDWHAHB (first time I get to say that!)

This looks pretty similar to most of my first 6 batches though if you did use a starter and a dry pack you may have overpitched it, and still have a nice healthy layer of yeast on top that you could scoop to harvest, though it should eventually fall in and settle to the bottom. I wouldnt panic just yet and let it ride!

 

[m00man2839]

Thanks! How long do you think I should leave it in the primary before I decide to bottle?

 

[madscientist451]

Put any time schedules for fermentation out of your mind. Pull samples and take gravity readings when yeast activity subsides. When you think its done, wait 2-3 days and take another sample, if it hasn't changed any then its probably done and you can cold crash and bottle. You should have a target FG in mind, but if you are a few points high or low, don't worry about it.

 

[ChelisHubby]

Time to go get a few beers and wait the kruasen will drop it will be fine!

 

[CU_tony]

Fermenting based on time vs based on FG is up for debate and personal preference.

My one gallon batches dont have enough volume for me to worry about sampling so I base that off time.
Its also my understanding that once you hit FG, while most of the yeast drops out of suspension, there still are active yeasties consuming their early by products that can contribute to off flavors.
My research leads me to believe that beer sitting on the yeast cake will "clean up" a lot faster (weeks) vs beer thats been bottled only with yeast in suspension (months)

The "clean up" phase happens after you hit FG and its hard for me to quantify it at this point, but Im also lucky enough that I have the beer pipeline flowing with semi regular beer activities on the weekends that mean I get to brew, bottle, and drink most every week at a point!

 

[CU_tony]

Old but good reference: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=176837

 

[brewpool]

Ive kept it between 60-64 degrees most of the time, utilizing a brew cool bag and rotating gallon jugs of ice every 12 hrs. I did do a liquid yeast starter, but i think it was bad, so i also threw in a dry S-05 before fermentation. I feel like every batch ive done previously has subsided by now, those though have all come out meh, so maybe this is good. Just want it to be a good batch finally, thats all

Being in the lower temp range and possibly over pitching is probably why you still see krausen. Nothing to worry about as it will settle out. You'll be fine.

 

[Sadu]

Yeah looks good to me. With that much krausen just leave it alone and let the yeast figure out the details. Take a gravity reading if you really want to, but I wouldn't touch it until at least 2 weeks.

But as CU_tony mentioned above, I also have a pipeline and I don't have to subject myself to the horror of buying beer while waiting for fermentation.

 

[m00man2839]

Thx Everyone, Really Helpful.