Should the Kraeusen fall back into the beer?

[ChrisS68]

A (non) update...
I intended to remove the kraeusen from a batch currently in primary. Had a pretty active fermentation for a couple of days before slowing down. Yesterday, airlock activity had ceased, so I removed the airlock/stopper and took a peek. From what I could see the kraeusen had already fallen. Guess I'll have to catch it earlier next time.

 

[Beernip]

Interesting experiment Kaiser. I wonder if there is any correlation between this and the statements by fermcap that it increases your hop utilization by 10%. Since with the fermcap your are not removing the hop oil/gunk/bits that float to the surface with the kraeusen . Also if BuzzCraft's article is correct that letting the kraeusen fall increased bitterness by 13% we may have something.

Do you think that if you produced to batches again and use 10% less hops on the initial hops addition that you would come out with a closer match? Does the kraeusen leave an undesirable aftertaste or just a more bitter beer that could be accounted for in your recipe?

 

[Kaiser]

Just a quick update on this:

When I tasted the two beers again one month after the initial tasting I could still notice the difference but they were more similar than they were before. At this point I would not be surprised if tasters can’t tell a difference. Especially if they don’t know what to look for.

Kai

 

[gmtech825]

Kai, how old were the beers when served? I'd be very curious to hear if the flavor of the one where the krausen was allowed to fall back in mellows with time. If this is the case, then this might suggest that if you want a brew to drink quickly, remove the krausen, but if you are going to age it longer, then it might not be an issue.
QUOTE]


i was actually wondering the same thing.

 

[SC_Ryan]

I have two halves of a 11 gallon batch fermenting in two 7 gallon carboys right now. They've been going for three days now and the krausens are still up. I'm tempted to rack one of the halves from under the krausen to another vessel as an experiment. It's a low gravity low ibu (balanced) beer too so it may be a good one to experiment with. Anyone have a better idea for separating fermenting beer and krausen?

 

[Kaiser]

No, racking should work. You may also rack only a 3/4 gallons into a growler if you don't want to rack all the beer in the carboy.

Kai

 

[SC_Ryan]

Unfortunately the krausen had dropped in both fermenters before I got to them this evening. I'll have to try this with my next batch.