Big krausen after 3 weeks

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Callumbo

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Hi guys I did my first all grain brew the other day and it all went successful however it's been 3weeks now and I was hoping it would have cleared.

Because they are in 2 x 5litre mineral water bottles I know the krausen will be slightly thicker due to the smaller surface area at the top.

My question is, has something gone wrong? The krausen is still very much visible with a centimeter thick at the top and the other is chunky little cotton wool pads.

And advice would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers
 
That does sound a bit odd to me.

Which yeast did you use ?

What was your starting gravity ?

What temperature have you fermented at ?

I would take a gravity reading from both bottles and post those up here in addition to the above as a starting point. Gravity readings will help establish whats going on.
 
That does sound a bit odd to me.

Which yeast did you use ?

What was your starting gravity ?

What temperature have you fermented at ?

I would take a gravity reading from both bottles and post those up here in addition to the above as a starting point. Gravity readings will help establish whats going on.

Hi spapro

I used jack mangroves empire ale yeast.

Og was 1.053

Sg reading from today 1.010

Its be fermenting at 20-22 degrees. Unfortunately that's the temp of my house. Shame it's a bit high.

When I also stuck in the fluid collector I hit a few bits and they all dropped to the bottom.

Very curious
 
Hi spapro

I used jack mangroves empire ale yeast.

Og was 1.053

Sg reading from today 1.010

Its be fermenting at 20-22 degrees. Unfortunately that's the temp of my house. Shame it's a bit high.

When I also stuck in the fluid collector I hit a few bits and they all dropped to the bottom.

Very curious

You will have more sugars left with a higher fermenting temp as the Alpha Amylase are more prominent at higher temps and they only break the sugars into long chained polymers - if brewing at lower temps the Beta Amylase will be more prominent meaning the polymer chains will be broken apart node by node
 
You will have more sugars left with a higher fermenting temp as the Alpha Amylase are more prominent at higher temps and they only break the sugars into long chained polymers - if brewing at lower temps the Beta Amylase will be more prominent meaning the polymer chains will be broken apart node by node

Thanks for the reply.

Really sorry but I get the general idea of what you have said but I'm not quite up to scratch on the specific science part. Are you saying that due to the temp being higher the sugar levels are higher which has caused the sugar to stick together and hold the krausen together when it should of broken apart?
 
You will have more sugars left with a higher fermenting temp as the Alpha Amylase are more prominent at higher temps and they only break the sugars into long chained polymers - if brewing at lower temps the Beta Amylase will be more prominent meaning the polymer chains will be broken apart node by node

Sorry but this isn't true. The amylases are dead already. You are getting confused with mash temp.
 
It looks like the krausen is stuck at the top. This is quite common, especially with top-croppy yeasts. Empire ale dropped for me. Perhaps there are bubbles trapped under it, or more likely it's because it formed a thicker than usual ring due to the narrowness of that part of the bottle. I would give it a gentle shake to help it drop, then wait a couple of days for the debris to settle.
 
It looks like the krausen is stuck at the top. This is quite common, especially with top-croppy yeasts. Empire ale dropped for me. Perhaps there are bubbles trapped under it, or more likely it's because it formed a thicker than usual ring due to the narrowness of that part of the bottle. I would give it a gentle shake to help it drop, then wait a couple of days for the debris to settle.

Ian you are an absolute diamond. I gave it a very gentle shake and 90% sank without argument. I'll give it a couple of days to settle then bottle it up.

Just seemed unusual to me because I've only ever used the white buckets. With these being clear bottles I can clearly see the krausen and man it looks weird Haha
 
Sorry but this isn't true. The amylases are dead already. You are getting confused with mash temp.

a slight mix up perhaps on my behalf...BUT ... i was giving the correct information but on the wrong subject !

i personally am impressed at the retention of this information seeing as when i did the 1 day brewing course we were all presented with 3 kegs of what the course instructor had brewed himself omnomnomnom
 
Thanks for the reply.

Really sorry but I get the general idea of what you have said but I'm not quite up to scratch on the specific science part. Are you saying that due to the temp being higher the sugar levels are higher which has caused the sugar to stick together and hold the krausen together when it should of broken apart?

sorry for the mix up there - no intentionally trying to mislead you :thumb:

it seems i was referring to the mashing temps :) best of luck with btw :grin:
 
sorry for the mix up there - no intentionally trying to mislead you :thumb:

it seems i was referring to the mashing temps :) best of luck with btw :grin:

No worries at all :thumb: I'm still learning all of this stuff so will retain that bit of info for the mash :)
 
I had this my current brew using with WLP001, the FG had been stable for 4 days but there was still something that looked like krausen on the top. I cold crashed and it dropped within a day.
 
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