Krausen not dropping

[ampete1]

I have been fermenting a wit for 7 days now. The initial few days went well, good vigorous activity, but the krausen still has not dropped. Normally after 3-4 days of vigourous activity the beer begins to clear, do I have a problem? Could it still be fermenting. The OG was 1.044, haven't checked recently. Has been fermenting around 70 F. Is it too early to transfer to a secondary?

 

[Nateo]

What kind of yeast are you using? It's probably a low flocculater so it won't drop out quickly like some yeasts will. I wouldn't transfer to secondary, and if you do, definitely do not transfer to secondary before the beer is done fermenting. Once your gravity is stable it's (probably) done.

 

[ampete1]

I used the Wyeast Belgian Witbear #3944.

 

[HoppyJake]

Don't transfer to secondary before taking a gravity reading. If the beer isn't fermented out all the way there is basically no realistic way (besides a HUGE starter) to get fermentation going again.

Take a gravity reading is my only advice. Since Wyeast 3944 is a top cropping yeast, there could definitely just be some residual yeast that are just hanging out.

 

[Bensiff]

Plenty of yeast like to hang out on top...if it is really bugging you give it a gentle rock and it will probably break loose and fall

 

[teddy4xp]

I had an ESB that took three weeks till it cleared. Juat give it time

 

[iaefebs]

Plenty of yeast like to hang out on top...if it is really bugging you give it a gentle rock and it will probably break loose and fall

This

 

[jessup]

need to pick some brains... I have a 1 month old caramel cream ale AG recipe that has 7.7% wheat content & was 1.064. I underpitched the WL cream ale blend and added lots of irish moss for clarity. Lactose used but only .2 oz/gal. Here is the photo from 3 weeks into primary, last SG check was 1.016. no sour or off flavors. air lock is still moving and co2 bubbles very active - piece of krausen drops then quickly rises again from bubble. why won't this krausen fall?? it is also very chunky looking which is odd. this is part of a large batch in which every single carboy has the same thing. any takers???

 

[Ovidsmuse]

Jessup, that beer is fine, those clumps are not unusual when using irish moss. What temp is that beer at and what FG were you shooting for? My suggestion is to slowly ramp up the heat and shake the carboy until fermentation ends. The krausen may not fall if it's made up of clumps of proteins that have trapped C02.

 

[cram]

if you rock and roll and swirl the carboy, those yeast rafts will fall out. I generally do it a few times to break them loose and let them drop to the bottom before racking the beer. Try to avoid outright splashing, though, but there's not a huge risk of oxidation in that there's likely a layer of CO2 riding on top.