Krausen On Liquid Yeast Different To Dry Yeast?

[RichLum]

Hi all,

I did my first batch using a liquid yeast (WLP550) last night.

This morning the krasuen on the top was all smooth and creamy looking. More like the head on a beer than the frothy, uneven, uglier looking krausen I normally get with dried yeasts.

Is this normal (ie liquid yeasts, or this particular yeast doesn't create as "violent" a krausen) or have I maybe not aerated enough or something?

I just used a brewcraft Belgian ale kit and added 3kg dry malt and 25g Goldings - wanted to keep it pretty simple to see what this yeast tastes like and use this as a basis.

The OG was 1083 and I pitched it at about 24 degrees. A few hours later after sitting in a water bath it had dropped to 22 degrees and this morning was back up to 24 degrees (although I suspect that the stick on thermometer reads a bit high as I'm sure the water in the bath feels colder than what the thermometer says...

thanks,
Rich

 

[chiller]

The Krausen isn't dependant on wether it is a dry or wet yeast. Just like people various yeast behave differently. The yeast you have is a true top cropper in that it works from the top of the wort. What you can see is the yeast hard at work making beer . The Krausen can also be influenced by the amount of cold break carried over into the fermentation.

If you were fermenting using an open fermenter the type of yeast you have is ideal for collecting off the top of the fermentation. This method is stil used by many breweries around the world. It's application is mainly for Ales. Sanitation has to be better than perfect if you are tempted to try this.

Steve