Fermentation has seemingly stopped but Krausen Persists

[sportscrazed2]

I have northern brewers inkeeper in my primary right now using wyeast 1469. it's been 13 days and yet krausen persists and there is no airlock activity. should i give it a week or 2 more in primary before bottling?

 

[Malticulous]

Some yeast will do that. You have to use your hydrometer. After three days with the same reading it's most likely done.

 

[TipsyDragon]

assuming this is an ale the longer you let it sit on the yeast the better. just because primary fermentation is done doesn't mean secondary fermentation is done. letting it sit the extra week or two wont hurt anything and may actually improve your finished beer.

 

[sportscrazed2]

allright will let it sit longer

 

[Malticulous]

IMO a bottle is very much a secondary. Not to say you should bottle now but just that is alright to bottle anytime after fermentation has completed. Most of what some brewers think of as "seconadry fermentation" is realy just from aging anyway. The yeast (cake) has no part in it. Yeast that don't flocculate fast are the ones least likely to have problems with diacetyl and acetaldehyde.

 

[Calder]

Leave it at least until the kraeusen drops. Sitting on the cake for a little longer is supposed to help clean up the beer and improve the taste. If nothing else, it will help it clear better so you have less in the bottle.

 

[Malticulous]

Leave it at least until the kraeusen drops. Sitting on the cake for a little longer is supposed to help clean up the beer and improve the taste. If nothing else, it will help it clear better so you have less in the bottle.

The ones saying that are copping out of telling you the real info or they don't know better. It takes less than a day for yeast to "clean up" under ideal circumstances. Manipulating those circumstances is the brewers job. Raising the temp is the way to do it quickly.

Some low flocculating strains are done a week before dropping. Cold crashing is a way to get them to drop--just be sure they are done first. Your hydrometer and your taste buds will tell you.

 

[Jmat]

bump

@sportscrazed2 or anyone else who has used 1469, how did this turn out? I've got a pale ale in the fermenter right now with a thick 1 inch krausen that shows no signs of dropping, though the beer seems to be clearing. It's only been a week or so, so I'm not touching this anytime soon, but I'm curious as to others' experience with this yeast. Will the krausen ultimately drop, or do most people find they rack out underneath it?

 

[jcav]

I have northern brewers inkeeper in my primary right now using wyeast 1469. it's been 13 days and yet krausen persists and there is no airlock activity. should i give it a week or 2 more in primary before bottling?

I am also brewing the Innkeeper and it's been in the carboy for 8 days. The krausen layer is about an inch tall but all signs of active fermentation have ceased for about four days now. I used two smack packs of the Wyeast Yorshire Ale yeast. Fermentation took off in less than 12 hours, but now no airlock activity.

I haven't taken a hydrometer reading yet and I was going to let it sit for a few more days. I am fermenting at 66 degrees. Did you resolve your issue? Did the yeast settle out? Let me know what happened with yours and if it turned out. This beer won so many awards I had to brew it for myself and see how good it is.

Cheers!

John

 

[Jmat]

I figured I'd post back to this thread for posterity's sake. As I posted previously, my krausen was not dropping. Well it dropped a few days ago and now continues to clear nicely. Ferm temps were around 66-68 F. So it looks like it drops eventually and you just need to be patient. In my case it was about 11, 12 days which is longer than I've found krausen usually lasts, but it did drop.

 

[Chesterbelloc]

A top cropping yeast does that.

Traditionally the top cropped yeast is shoveled off. But, that's considering the traditional fermenter is a giant rectangle open to the air.

I try to get most of it to drop to the bottom but more often than not it doesn't even with crash cooling. Sometimes vibrating the fermenter will get chunks of it to fall out. With that said... a little gelatin helps. A little gelatin in the fermenter and some in the keg (if you do that).

 

[ddrrseio]

The ones saying that are copping out of telling you the real info or they don't know better. It takes less than a day for yeast to "clean up" under ideal circumstances. Manipulating those circumstances is the brewers job. Raising the temp is the way to do it quickly.

Some low flocculating strains are done a week before dropping. Cold crashing is a way to get them to drop--just be sure they are done first. Your hydrometer and your taste buds will tell you.

this x1000

transferring beers, waiting forever, etc are all just gimmicks in most instances. given decent fermentation - which, to be fair, will not be seen in all homebrew fermentations - you will have ale near its peak within ten days and often sooner.

if you are not attaining this, you need to look into your pitching rates, your oxygenation, your water, your fermentation temps, etc. time will not make diacetyl, acetaldehyde, fusels, DMS, contamination, etc evaporate.

 

[Calder]

The ones saying that are copping out of telling you the real info or they don't know better. It takes less than a day for yeast to "clean up" under ideal circumstances. Manipulating those circumstances is the brewers job. Raising the temp is the way to do it quickly.

Some low flocculating strains are done a week before dropping. Cold crashing is a way to get them to drop--just be sure they are done first. Your hydrometer and your taste buds will tell you.

Not all of us treat it like a sprint.

I recommended he wait until kraeusen dropped and that sitting on the cake is 'supposed' to help clean up the beer. It will not hurt it if he leaves it a week or two. And it will result in less sediment in the bottle.

............ And not everyone has the ability to cold crash.

I fail to see what you are upset about.

 

[DurtyChemist]

this x1000

transferring beers, waiting forever, etc are all just gimmicks in most instances. given decent fermentation - which, to be fair, will not be seen in all homebrew fermentations - you will have ale near its peak within ten days and often sooner.

if you are not attaining this, you need to look into your pitching rates, your oxygenation, your water, your fermentation temps, etc. time will not make diacetyl, acetaldehyde, fusels, DMS, contamination, etc evaporate.

Did you happen to notice this conversation ended almost 5 years ago? You're about 1 month shy of the 5 year mark.

 

[hottpeper13]

It's funny know one answered his original question. 1469 has a persistent krausen and will float forever. At the 2 week mark give it a gentle swirl and it will start to fall,after one more week, bottle.

 

[ddrrseio]

did you happen to notice this conversation ended almost 5 years ago? You're about 1 month shy of the 5 year mark.