Krausen topography

[Dauntless]

Well 12h after pitching (dry mystery yeast, no starter) I saw active fermentation. 3 hours later, I went to show my roommate and this little mountain of foam was formed. It has since reached the top of the bucket.

Being a total noob, this is a bit of a novelty for me.

Yes I know there isn't an airlock on the bucket, I use it for the initial fermentation and transfer to a carboy when the krausen has died down. This is per the LHBS guy's instruction; no krausen in the airlock, no funnelling.

 

[tdavisii]

I think that Krausen sees a Krausen that he is strangly attracted to Looks good to me.

 

[big supper]

Yes I know there isn't an airlock on the bucket, I use it for the initial fermentation and transfer to a carboy when the krausen has died down. This is per the LHBS guy's instruction; no krausen in the airlock, no funnelling.

That's fine as long as the area that you ferment in is clean. We use open fermenters where I work, so no need for an airlock. Just have to make sure that no crap falls in there!!!

 

[Thor the Mighty]

yeah whats up with open fermenting vessels? ive always been interested in just leaving one open but am scared ****less of infection!

 

[ChshreCat]

I'd at least throw a loose lid on that or cover it with aluminum foil. If you keep using an open bucket, you're almost sure to get an infection eventually. You may not think anything is falling in there, but there's plenty of stuff you can't see falling into it the whole time it's sitting open.

No clue on Mt Krausen you have there. Maybe something about the shape of the bottom of the bucket makes it build more in the middle? Just a wild guess.

 

[Dauntless]

I put the (sanitized) lid on loosely and take a peek everyday to see what is going on.

Mt Krausen became Krausen the mesa before collapsing onto itself. Things are looking pretty healthy in the bucket with the temp floating around 73F

When I rack into the real primary, I leave behind about an inch of trub and the beer stays pretty clear from then on.

 

[Coastarine]

That's pretty wild. You must either have a big yeast colony underneath it or a serious nucleation site for CO2.

 

[ChshreCat]

That's pretty wild. You must either have a big yeast colony underneath it or a serious nucleation site for CO2.

That is a thought. You might check the bottom of your bucket for scratches, just in case.

 

[Dauntless]

So I go take one last peek of this funky architecture and I see a small, semi-circular piece of plastic floating at the summit of the foam. Sounds like a nucleation site for CO2 to me. This plastic doesn't float, the bubbles (or a brewghost) must have brought it up.

Turns out I managed to break it off the top of my big mixing spoon when adding in the top off water.