I keged 2 five gallon batches of Bo-Pils this weekend. When I took the top off my bucket after 4 weeks of primary there was a thick layer of yeast on top of my beer. I scraped it off took a hydrometer reading. The beer was finished ,smelled good,and tasted good. Normaly when I pop the fermenter there is no yeast on top. Has anyone else seen this before?
I can't say for sure that I've seen it with one of the Czech strains. But I've seen it before. I've racked from underneath 1056/001 krausen a couple times. I assume that's what you mean by a thick layer of yeast.
This is the third time I have brewed this batch with WLP800 and WLP830 and never seen it before. I was concerned when I seen it because I was in the middle of brewing my Munich Dunkel to dump on the yeast cake. The closest home brew store is around 25 miles from my house and I did not want to go for fresh yeast. Thanks for the input!
WLP800 was very recently a topic of discussion on another beer forum (see extracts below). It would appear that WLP800 creates a dense, long lasting krauesen. You stated: “This is the third time I have brewed this batch with WLP800 and WLP830…” Did you do a split batch (one batch with WLP800 and the other with WLP830)? If so, was the batch with WLP800 the batch that had the thick krausen after 4 weeks? Cheers! “Is it true that WLP800 is a top cropping yeast? I like to ferment in my 10 gal stainless kettle (ease of cleaning) and so I prefer yeasts that throw a nice heavy blanket of yeast on top to protect the beer from the air. I've never heard of a lager yeast that was top cropping but saw a post or two about WLP800 while searching for different top cropping yeasts. I'd love to be able to brew some lagers with my open ferm method but without the protection of a yeast blanket I'd want to rack it to a closed carboy immediately after primary slows, but with a protective yeast blanket I wouldn't feel rushed to do so.” And “Just found the answer. Thanks Chumley! Chumley's post from 2004: "Slightly off-topic, but I am fermenting a Czech pilsner at 46°F using WLP800 for the first time, and it is exactly like 1272. The beer has cleared, but the thicken krausen with top-cropping cream-colored yeast remains. This one was brewed nearly a month ago (Jan 16). Pretty weird for a lager yeast."
Hi Jack. Yes I did do a split batch. I have never brewed any beer that had a yeast cover after 3 weeks let alone 4. I'm talking a complete coverage of my beer. We will see what happens with my Dunkel. Take care.
