Krausen control?

[Inodoro_Pereyra]

So...I was bored this morning, so after a quick look around, I decided to make a small batch of mead, with some leftover honey I found.
This was by no means intended to be a "let's make the perfect mead" thing, but was actually more of a "let's see what happens" scenario, so I took some water, added the honey (for an O.G.=1.080), some acid blend, yeast energizer, and a tablespoon of baker's yeast. Total, I have about 600 cc of liquid fermenting.

But here's what caught my attention: after I pitched the yeast (dry), the airlock started bubbling like crazy within 10 minutes. So, a while later, the krausen was already awfully close to the airlock (not surprising, as I have about 2" headspace). At that moment, I realized some of the yeast was still dry, laying on top of the krausen, so I took the fermenter and gave it a gentle shake, to see if I could sink the yeast. To my surprise, the krausen disappeared immediately, just leaving some dried foam on the side of the jar. About 10 minutes later, again, the krausen (I'm guessing from the new yeast), was up, very close to the airlock, so I gave it another shake, and it subsided again.
Ever since, the airlock is been bubbling like crazy, but I've got no more krausen!!!

Has anybody seen something like this before? Do you guys think it could be a viable way to avoid blowoffs?

 

[unionrdr]

Huh. Interesting turn of events. Wish I'd have thought of that on my last one. Maybe an interesting way to take care of it?

 

[Inodoro_Pereyra]

That's what I was thinking.
I don't know if I'd risk a whole 5 gallon batch to try it, but maybe somebody has enough leftover materials to make a small batch, and see if it works for beer?

Who knows? Maybe it'd be a nice way to keep the wort off the ceiling...

 

[NorthRiverS]

Seems to me that would be a good thing to do if it works. Its not like you would be incorporating any air(O2) into the beer if the airlock is still in place. Any foam(bubbles) would be CO2. . . . .

NRS

 

[Inodoro_Pereyra]

True. But even if you did, that early in the fermentation, it wouldn't matter.
The only downside I can imagine would be the bitter part of the krausen (that supposedly gets stuck to the fermenter walls) going back into the wort, but, since I have no experience either brewing or drinking beer, I have no way to test it by myself.
But we'll see. Maybe I'll divide a batch in 2, and see if there's a difference with the "traditional" method...

 

[fendermallot]

Thanks for the tip Inodoro. Krausen go bye bye, no more spillage!

 

[Inodoro_Pereyra]

Glad I could help.

 

[Inodoro_Pereyra]

Lil' update.

It's been about 24hs since my last "shake", and, so far, no krausen has formed whatsoever. As can be seen in the pics below, you wouldn't even realize it's fermenting, if it wasn't for the airlock bubbling like crazy, and the little bead of bubbles along the border of the liquid.