Krausen not subsiding

that's not a lot of time in the fermentor. i mean, it should be done fermenting.
but the krauzen's not always the indicator that fermentation's still going or complete. gravity is.
if you don't want to take the gravity and you're in a rush to keg it (which you really aren't), then yes, siphon it out. otherwise, i'd leave it for another 3-7 days. never harm when you take your time. more harm if you rush

 

Wait for it to crash. Some yeast strains take a while for their krausen to fall. I have had wit beers take weeks to crash. Two weeks is the minimum that I will leave a beer and that is for low gravity beers, a month is better and will result in a better beer.

 

yeah- agreed not much time. I've recently had one with persistent krausen (different yeast) stay for 5 weeks in a 1.045 wort. I racked out from under it.

Claiming that leaving the beer for a month will make better beer is not true. In some cases yes, but not all.

 

it won't make a better beer per se, but you're at least more likely to have a cleaner, more fermented beer (as opposed to being eager and racking early)

 

I agreed and for a beginner that is sound advice. Once he figures out the yeast and what it does he may choose a shorter timeline.

 

it comes down to this:

if you want the beer to be ready because you're eager and keen, then chillax, buy something at the store and wait a week.

if you have an event or deadline, then rack off the yeast cake and hope things are done fermenting.

i had a brain fart. i waited until last minute to brew an IPA for an event. decided that, for fun, i'd do it with 6.5% abv. yeah. brilliant. my 7-10 fermentation (and then dry hopping) went to a 2.5 week fermentation. yesterday, the krausen dropped considerably to the point where there's just an inch of pond scum (vs 5+ inches three days ago), so i gambled and added my hops. odds are that i'll be fine, but, if you don't have to play the odds, then don't.

 

I made a 2 gallon Belgian Dubbel using the trappist wyeast, into two 1 gallon carboys. The first gallon behaved normally and the krausen subsided after 10 days. The other, which had a lot more sediment is taking longer, going on week 3. It also has a slight sulphur smell, but tastes fine and the bad smell seems to be subsiding. My guess is that sediment adds to the length of krausen, and also can cause off smells flavors. Time is your best friend with stronger ales.

 

There's no reason you can't siphon from under the krausen, assuming the beer is finished fermenting. I would take a gravity readings over a period of three days and if it's not dropping, go ahead and keg.

 

Yeah, you can get away with racking from under krausen, but it's kinda like leaving a game early...sometimes you beat the traffic, but other times you miss a really good finish.

 

Bumping this for some help. My issue isn't krausen subsiding per se, it's done that, it's just not dropping. It's just hanging out about a half inch below the surface of the beer. 3 gallon saison made with breiss pils DME and honey, OG 1.056. Yeast is RVA ghost ale (Fantome strain). FG isn't known as I broke my hydrometer, but it's been fermenting exactly 3 weeks today. Fermented at 72*, free rose up to 76* at it's height, then back down to 70 for the remainder of the time. I tasted it, definitely tastes done, its nice and dry, very tasty actually. Anyone have any experience with this strain or any that won't drop? Guess I'll just leave it for another week or two, take fg readings, and if it's done, rack from underneath?

 

Relax and enjoy the view Some of us aren't so lucky to have the heavenly mountain like you describe.

 

Can you see Russia from your house?

 

No but Palin can...

 

No worries.
Just something 1056 does sometimes.

RDWHAHB

 

weird, never had that happen with Chico before. So what do you do, just wait til it falls or rack from underneath?

 

Yeah, there's only one way to know whether it's time to package, and that is a stable final gravity reading over several days.
I've had some experience with wy 1318, it doesn't drop the yeast head for an eternity, even though the gravity isn't changing. I just rack from underneath.

 

I have had to rack from underneath a chico krausen. I don't know why it behaved that way, but my guess would be something to do with density or miscibility or magic CO2 blankets.

 

No waiting needed.

Problem ... such as it is ... goes away on its own after racking to the bottling bucket.
Guess you could call it racking underneath.

 

I'm having this issue with a blonde ale I brewed 1 week ago. After adding .5 pound of raw honey at high krausen. I'm going to hit it with a diacetyl rest and see what happens. I used US-05 for this and it's never done this. I've also made this beer 3 different times before with no such issues.