I brewed a batch of Bulldog Four Finger Jack IPA a couple of months back and while in the FV it produced no Krausen. Last weekend I started a batch of Festival Summer Ale and this has also produced no Krausen. I've just checked the gravity on the Summer Ale however and it's already down to 1010. The instructions say the final gravity should be 1009 so I was surprised to see it so low so soon. In between these two beers I have done two Youngs kits (American pale ale and American IPA) and they both produced a good Krausen. Why do I sometimes get this Krausen and sometimes not? I always like to see it as it looks like something is happening and the yeast is healthy.
Why no Krausen?
- Thread starter gamekeepa
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My brewfferm abdij yeast were like that, still tasted awesome. My theory would be less viable or more stressed yeast but that is just a theory.
Wardy
Junior Member
I'm the same and initially thought a monster of a Krausen was a good indication of a great fermentation but now I realise it means nothing other than a vigorous start. Some yeasts start slow and plod on at a steady rate (low focculation) as opposed to those that produce a monster head (high focculation ).
Sorry if you already know this because I assume you don't but also there are bottom fermenting yeasts mostly used for lager which will produce no head at all.
At the end of the day if the ideal fermentation temperature is maintained there will be huge variations with what you see produced by different top fermenting yeasts.
Sorry if you already know this because I assume you don't but also there are bottom fermenting yeasts mostly used for lager which will produce no head at all.
At the end of the day if the ideal fermentation temperature is maintained there will be huge variations with what you see produced by different top fermenting yeasts.
MyQul
Chairman of the Bored
What temp did you ferment at. I've found that the times I've fermented warmer or pitched lots of yeast( I recently pitched two packet of Nottingham yeast in a brew that I fermented at 15C), my fermentations were'fizzy', kind of like when you pour a coke, wth small bubbles. Those times the krausen was small and/or disapeared quickly.
Conversely I'm using Wyeast 1469 at the mo, which can throw up a huge krausen (it did with my starter but not with the actual brew itself), the size of the bubbles in the starter krausen were very large. Some almost an inch across near the top of the krausen. So perhaps fermentation temp/krausen bubble size/pitch rate has something to do with why you didn't get a krausen
Conversely I'm using Wyeast 1469 at the mo, which can throw up a huge krausen (it did with my starter but not with the actual brew itself), the size of the bubbles in the starter krausen were very large. Some almost an inch across near the top of the krausen. So perhaps fermentation temp/krausen bubble size/pitch rate has something to do with why you didn't get a krausen
I have the FV in the brew fridge set at 20 degrees C. The temperature sensor is taped to the side of the vessel behind some bubble wrap to try and give an indication of the wort temperature rather than ambient temperature. I have my doubts how well this works however.
MyQul
Chairman of the Bored
tbh, it's probably a combination of things like yeast strain, fermentation temp, pitch rate, etc. I also suspect water and wort composition too
The jury's out on sensor placement, but I use the method that you use and have had good results.
Colin
Pirate_Pete
Landlord.
So do I. I didn't realise there was another way.
G'day,
There is a long online debate that I've seen somewhere, about where to place the sensor. A lot of home brewers prefer to leave the sensor hanging in the brew fridge, recording ambient temperatures, some fasten it to the FV, as you and I do, and others suspend it in the wort.
One chap did a series of experiments and the evidence clearly demonstrated that better control of temp was maintained with the sensor against the FV.
Another chap, doing a similar experiment discounted the findings of the first chap, so back to square one!
I tried ambient, with a 1kW fan heater, but the fridge cycled between hot/cold too often. I changed to a 60W tubular heater and fastened the sensor to the FV, behind bubble wrap, with a bungee cord. Perfect! In fact, as I brew in an outside brick shed, it's cold enough at present for the cooling cycle to be almost redundant (you will remember the cold, no doubt, but it may be just a fleeting memory :grin:).
I did think about putting a small amount of the wort into another container such as a lunch box, putting this in the brew fridge alongside the FV and putting the sensor into this with the lid shut. Not sure this would be any better but may give it a go one day and see.
Pirate_Pete
Landlord.
Thanks Mate. I'll stick to the bubble wrap I think.
I use a reptile heater like this.http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Reptile-...750186?hash=item1e9e9789aa:g:N2UAAOSwPhdVUgLC
Attached to the inside of the fridge with some small suction holders the missus bought to hold up Christmas lights.
Yes I remember the cold, it's hot here at present. The humidity is the killer though. So the fridge is a must. Last winter was the coldest for years though. We even had a couple of frosts so the heater in the fridge does come on sometimes.
Pirate_Pete
Landlord.
Actually having read this I do recall someone having a bottle of water next to the FV with the sensor in that.
Pirate_Pete
Landlord.
Yes, you're right it does create heat. It may have been wort or water. I don't remember.
You could just use bubble wrap and take a reading of the ambient temperature of the fridge. Next brew use your idea of putting the wort in a container with the sensor in there and take a reading of the ambient temperature of the fridge.
Then report back with your findings.
cheapbrew
Junk and disorderly
I'm no expert but googling air and water temps I found that the temperature of water changes slower than the temperature of the air because water has a higher heat capacity.
Heat capacity is a property of a material that describes how much heat energy is required to change the temperature of a substance by one degree Celsius.
About one unit of heat energy is needed to warm the air one degree Celsius. Four times more heat energy is needed to warm the water one degree Celsius.
Heat capacity is a property of a material that describes how much heat energy is required to change the temperature of a substance by one degree Celsius.
About one unit of heat energy is needed to warm the air one degree Celsius. Four times more heat energy is needed to warm the water one degree Celsius.
You are correct in what you say :thumb:with the proviso that this is all relative to mass not volume, and therefore does not take into account the fact that water is nominally about 830 times more dense than air at 'room temperature'.
So very approximately, at room temperature, you have to put 3300 times more energy to heat a volume of water through the same temperature rise compared to the same volume of air.
And all this is further complicated by the fact that because it's a gas the density of air changes noticeably due to temperature effects at the same pressure (about 15% less between 0*C and 40*C) whereas liquid water does not.
Physics/thermodynamics lesson over. Back to comments on brewing. :drunk:
Pirate_Pete
Landlord.
Anybody who's had more than one beer should not even try to read the two posts above, let alone pretend to understand them.
