Krausen won't fall

liesea · Jan 30, 2012

My red kolsch has been in the primary for 2 weeks and the krausen wont fall. The airlock stopped bubbling after 3 days so i assume the bulk of the fermentation is done. I am planning on bottling in a few days. Is it ok to transfer the beer when there is still krausen or should i wait until it falls? Is there anything i can do to make it fall?

passedpawn · Jan 30, 2012

make it fall first. Shake it and wait a day. Makes tranferring cleaner.

smagee · Jan 30, 2012

I've had that happen on occasion to batches for no apparent reason. I haven't had any problems racking off and bottling even when there remains some stubborn krausen up top. It may not be ideal, but it doesn't seem to create an issue.

Ryush806 · Jan 30, 2012

You really need to check the FG with your hydrometer several days apart to make sure it's done fermenting. Just because there are no airlock bubbles doesn't mean the yeasty-beasties aren't still working. If they're done then go ahead and bottle.

NordeastBrewer77 · Jan 30, 2012

i'm going through the same thing with a beer i have in primary. FG's been stable since day 6, a week ago. the samples were even starting to show that the beer's falling clear, but there's still some foam on top. i've been encouraging it to fall by keeping temps in the mid 50s, i also gave the bucket a li'l shake the other day, which helped a lot. sometimes that krausen just stays around for a bit, give it some time and it'll fall out.

liesea · Jan 31, 2012

Thanks for the advice, I gave my fermentor a little shake and it seamed to help a little i will probably just gave it another week in the primary to settle. I checked my SG and it is at 1.009 which is exactly what I aiming for

Aschecte · Jan 31, 2012

i've had krausen's stick around for almost a month !!! they always eventually fall. I wouldn't worry too much though if you rack underneath it as long as you hit your terminal gravity for 2 consecutive days.