Is this krausen? Or just residual bubbles?

[Argentum]

About 10 days ago I brewed something like an old ale - OG 1.072. After about a week the krausen began to subside but for the last three days there's been a single layer of bubbles covering most of the beer - see photo attached. This layer does not appear to be shrinking or otherwise subsiding. It's also not growing. Anyone know what this is and whether I should wait for it to subside? I'm reluctant to remove the airlock to pull a sample because it's a 2.5 gallon batch in a 5 gallon fermenter, and if my liberal arts education serves me well, I have a nice layer of co2 trapped in the fermenter now which would be replaced with plain air and oxygen once I take the airlock out.

I used wyeast 1056. Fermentation stayed between 65-68 at all times and appeared to be normal. I've brewed for a while and don't recall ever encountering a persistent layer of bubbles like this.

 

[bransona]

Just looks like bubbles to me. More CO2 escaping, but not a krausen.

 

[m00ps]

whats the issue here? ive never heard of bubbles ruining a beer

 

[Argentum]

whats the issue here? ive never heard of bubbles ruining a beer

Hopefully there's no issue . I just want to know if it indicates a problem, and if I should wait before pulling a sample to check SG.

 

[brewprint]

Looks pretty bad. You should send it my way for proper disposal.

 

[sudbuddy]

Looks pretty bad. You should send it my way for proper disposal.

Dang, you beat me to it!

 

[GHBWNY]

Krausen is a layer proteins, hop resin and dead yeast that gets pushed to the surface when the ferm is very active. When ferm activity begins to subside, the krausen is too heavy to be supported by the CO2, so it sinks. Yours is still off-gassing CO2, but with most of the initial particulate now on the bottom, all you see is bubbles. It's perfectly fine. Let 'er ride.

 

[BrewingTravisty]

Krausen is a layer proteins, hop resin and dead yeast that gets pushed to the surface when the ferm is very active. When ferm activity begins to subside, the krausen is too heavy to be supported by the CO2, so it sinks. Yours is still off-gassing CO2, but with most of the initial particulate now on the bottom, all you see is bubbles. It's perfectly fine. Let 'er ride.

I thought the krausen was viable yeast? Not dead. Otherwise why top crop and reuse the yeast?

 

[Wash1]

I agree, let it ride cause it looks good to me. As an aside, CO2 is heavier than air, so unless you stir things up, your CO2 layer doesn't go away as soon as you remove the airlock. I think it'll be fine.