High krausen, now no krausen?

[drainpour]

I brewed Mike Tonsmeire's dark winter saison IV recipe one week ago. I pitched WLP 566 (saison II) WLP 677 (Lacto delbruccki) WLP 564 (Brett Brux-Trois). I made a starter (1.030) for each one on a Thurs to be pitch on Sat. Everything went good, I attached a blow off tube instead of an airlock after pitching, the yeast and bacteria started chugging away within a few hours, the krausen rose about 3-4 inches. Then two days ago I noticed the krausen started to disappear, today its completely gone with only little bubbles on the surface, only way I can describe it is, it looks like a beer that's been sitting in the pint glass for a while with very little head left, if that makes sense? The blow off still has activity every 5-6 seconds, the temp has been a steady 72-76 degrees F. This is my first sour beer and first time using Lacto and Brett so i'm not sure if this is normal or what? Anybody else have this happen? Thanks!

 

[bcmeyer]

That's normal for that yeast. I brewed a high-gravity saison that did the same thing. I was worried at first, but it kept chugging along, even though the krausen dropped after 5 days. 4 weeks later it went from 1.083 to 1.007.

-Kelso

 

[drainpour]

That's normal for that yeast. I brewed a high-gravity saison that did the same thing. I was worried at first, but it kept chugging along, even though the krausen dropped after 5 days. 4 weeks later it went from 1.083 to 1.007.

-Kelso

Very Nice! hopefully I can get my gravity that low as well. How often did you check the gravity on that saison?

 

[bcmeyer]

I checked it once at about two weeks. It was down to 1.035. Since it was a big beer, I didn't panic and just let it do its thing. After four weeks it had finished up no problem. Trust your process and everything will work itself out.

Fondest wishes,

Kelso