Why is my yeast still on top?

[JLem]

I brewed a porter a couple of weeks ago. I was going to move it to secondary this evening, but when I opened up the bucket I saw that there was a tremendous amount of yeast still on top of the beer. I have only brewed a few beers, but I have not seen this amount of yeast sitting on top this long into the fermentation process. Here are some particulars:

- It was a partial mash with some Maris Otter , chocolate, honey malt, and crystal 60L
- I also added 4oz of cocoa powder to the mash
- The gravity is at 1.014, started at 1.046
- The yeast is a "reclaimed" White Lab's Burton Ale Yeast (I washed the yeast from an earlier pale ale)
- I made a starter
- fermentation temp has been 65-67 degrees F

and here's a picture:

My questions:
1) Should I have expected the yeast to settle by now?
2) Why hasn't it settled yet? (or why did this same yeast settle in my last beer?)
3) Should I leave it alone and wait for it to settle before I rack to secondary?

Thanks!

 

[double_e5]

Sometimes the krausen will not fall completely. What temp did you mash at? If it was on the higher side, it is problably done fermenting. Take SG reading a couple days apart to be sure. You can just rack it from underneath that crap.

 

[MaynardX]

Every beer is different. Some styles and yeast strains tend to keep a slight krausen that doesn't fall for awhile. Best way to tell if the beer is done is from gravity readings over time. Has the gravity been consistent at least 3 days in a row? With a FG at 0.014, I'm sure your close, but I would wait a few days just to make sure.

 

[JLem]

Sometimes the krausen will not fall completely. What temp did you mash at? If it was on the higher side, it is problably done fermenting. Take SG reading a couple days apart to be sure. You can just rack it from underneath that crap.

The mash temp was a steady 154 degrees F

Every beer is different. Some styles and yeast strains tend to keep a slight krausen that doesn't fall for awhile. Best way to tell if the beer is done is from gravity readings over time. Has the gravity been consistent at least 3 days in a row? With a FG at 0.014, I'm sure your close, but I would wait a few days just to make sure.

Gravity was 1.016 on Friday (5 days ago). I suppose it could still go down some.

 

[ZBrewMan]

I brewed two different extract beers (American Imperial Pale Ale & American Amber) from "Brewer's Best" with Safale S-05 dry yeast with starters. The Pale Ale did not have a krausen after two weeks, but the Amber did. It looked exactly like your picture. I had a sample when I transfered it to secondary and it was delicious!

I wouldn't worry.... but make sure FG is stable then transfer... but I'm an uber-n00b, so take what I say with a grain of salt

 

[JLem]

I wonder what triggers the yeast to settle. I think I'll go post on the brew science forum...

 

[davesrose]

I noticed when I brewed my California Common, I was fermenting it the recommended temperature for lager yeast. I noticed after active fermentation, there was still some protein residue forming a "kraeusen like" layer. It stayed there even after conditioning (not lagering, but racking to secondary)...it stayed right up until cold crashing. So I think it's sometimes just certain residues that stay up there and don't settle (until colder temps at least).