Show Us Your Krausen

[matho]

well today i went and checked my belgian dark strong that is in the fermenter, well i was confronted with a blocked airlock and yeast all over the top of the fermenter so after a clean up i took a few photos.







there is only 20l in a 30l fermenter and i thought i would be right but it was not to be. The yeast is wyeast 3522 and i did pitch about 350 billion cells.
its been about 4 days and its gone from 1.085 to 1.045 already

cheers matho

 

[Phoney]

What's your recipe?

 

[newguy]

What my krausens typically look like. However, given the relative fill levels, I'd say your Belgian dark strong is way more lively than my typical brews.

 

[matho]

here you go phoneyhuh

BeerSmith Recipe Printout - http://www.beersmith.com
Recipe: belgain dark strong keg
Brewer: steve
Asst Brewer:
Style: Belgian Dark Strong Ale
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (45.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 19.50 L
Boil Size: 26.25 L
Estimated OG: 1.081 SG
Estimated Color: 35.7 EBC
Estimated IBU: 24.8 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
4.12 kg Pilsner, Malt Craft Export (Joe White) (3.Grain 54.79 %
3.30 kg Munich Malt - 20L (39.4 EBC) Grain 43.88 %
0.10 kg Special B Malt (320.0 EBC) Grain 1.33 %
40.00 gm Spalter [3.60 %] (60 min) Hops 20.4 IBU
17.00 gm Spalter [3.60 %] (30 min) Hops 4.4 IBU
1 Pkgs Belgian Ardennes (Wyeast Labs #3522) Yeast-Wheat


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Full Body, Batch Sparge
Total Grain Weight: 7.52 kg
----------------------------
Single Infusion, Full Body, Batch Sparge
Step Time Name Description Step Temp
60 min Mash In Add 19.61 L of water at 76.4 C 68.0 C

i also added 500ml of homemade dark candi syrup

newguy that looks awsome

 

[HeavyNova]

What is it that creates a krausen this big!? Particular yeasts, more fermentables, temperature - a combinations of all of those?

The biggest I've every had is mayby 6-7 cms.

 

[np1962]

What is it that creates a krausen this big!? Particular yeasts, more fermentables, temperature - a combinations of all of those?

The biggest I've every had is mayby 6-7 cms.

All of the above + others. Cell count can be a major factor.

 

[HeavyNova]

All of the above + others. Cell count can be a major factor.

Thanks! I guess I haven't had the right conditions yet.

 

[.DJ.]

some 3068...

 

[TmC]

Have a toucan dark ale/stout going that has about 20cm krausen after 12 hours, probably due to being fermented at 25 celcius. Cant be helped, was going to let it age anyway. Will get some piccies tomorrow.

 

[warra48]

The fermenter is full of kraeusen, and it's overflowing the blowoff bottle and onto the garage floor.

I didn't enjoy the clean-up, but the beer, a dunkelweizen, was good.

 

[Punkal]

I though that was a starter stashed away behind the brew at first but thats the blowoff... Hate cleaning too...

 

[matho]

that looks cool d.j and warra's is just down right crazy

cheers

 

[Silo Ted]

What my krausens typically look like. However, given the relative fill levels, I'd say your Belgian dark strong is way more lively than my typical brews.

Insane. So by typically, is that with only one recipe, or all the beers you do ? I have taken to pitching huge volumes of yeast in the last six beers, but don't get anything like your photo. Or even DJ's. Wow, amazed that the o-ring blew right off.

 

[Yikes]

I ruined a dark strong this way. Pitched the yeast from a 10l starter into the brew and got a flood of yeasty goop flowing out of the ferm fridge onto the laundry floor.
Needless to say the housemates (non beer drinking girls) were not pleased. I had to take it out and put it in the laundry sink to prevent further catastrophe and it was a hot day. The brew got close to 30c... Tastes like someone added metho to it now. So disappointed.

Unfortunatly my ferm fridge only just fits the fermenter with gladwrap on top so no room for a blowoff tube. Gotta get a bigger fridge...

 

[Lecterfan]

I've got no access to a camera for pics, but DJ's awesome pic is exactly what my last two brews have looked like at day 3 using wy1469.

 

[felon]

I'm glad this one in my 60L fermenter has finally calmed down. I was a bit worried for a while.

 

[newguy]

Insane. So by typically, is that with only one recipe, or all the beers you do ? I have taken to pitching huge volumes of yeast in the last six beers, but don't get anything like your photo. Or even DJ's. Wow, amazed that the o-ring blew right off.

All my ales look that way. Lagers only get maybe 5-6cm of krausen because of the lower temperature. I build up a 2l starter from one smack pack on a stir plate and I also oxygenate the starter. When I pitch the starter, each carboy gets 60 seconds of oxygen again. Just about every yeast strain from wyeast will act like the one in the picture.

 

[Silo Ted]

All my ales look that way. Lagers only get maybe 5-6cm of krausen because of the lower temperature. I build up a 2l starter from one smack pack on a stir plate and I also oxygenate the starter. When I pitch the starter, each carboy gets 60 seconds of oxygen again. Just about every yeast strain from wyeast will act like the one in the picture.

Ah Ok. I have been a Whitelabs man to date, and thought many of the strains are shared.

 

[JestersDarts]

I've posted this before in the hopburst thread, but here's a top down shot of a krausen full of hop flowers

 

[Malted]

I've posted this before in the hopburst thread, but here's a top down shot of a krausen full of hop flowers

Yeah yeah what ever. If you want to photograph a pizza and call it krausen with hops, that's your business.

 

[raven19]

My Southern English Brown Ale (wlp005) has brains! :lol:

 

[matho]

My Southern English Brown Ale (wlp005) has brains! :lol:

View attachment 47751

that looks friggin awesome :lol:

 

[Wolfy]

In my fermenting fridge just now:
AltBier:

DunkelWeizen (with about 25% free headspace so it didn't crawl out of the jerry):

 

[mwd]

Altbier be blazzes it looks like a meatlovers pizza

 

[Guysmiley54]

Hi guys,

I'm brewing a Weizen with WY3068. I'm brewing 23L in a 25L (plus headspace) fermenter and about 36-40 hours from pitching the Krausen has gone off!!

I'm a Glad Wrap user because it's easier than an airlock and lid situation. What's the best plan of attack here? I want to clean up the mess and replace the Glad cover with a new one but will it just keep happening? Is there any way to use a blowoff tube in a Glad Wrapped brew?

Maybe I should wait a day or so for the ferment to settle down and then change/clean up.

Any thoughts?

Cheers :icon_cheers:

 

[raven19]

Keep cleaning it up and once it starts to subside get the lid / glad wrap back on.

It can indeed be a beast!

 

[Fourstar]

If you want to avoid a big mess

In a draft free room, move the fermenter and assemble your gladwrap & paper towel.

rouse the fermenter somewhat, i generally find it cuases the yeast to bloom some more then subside back into the beer.

Peel off the gladwrap from the fermenter and toss into a plastic bag.

wipe down around the rim of the fermenter the excess krausen/yeast, feel free to hit your secondary paper with some starsan if you feel so inclined.

re-wrap with some glad wrap.

back to business, happy days. :icon_cheers:

 

[Guysmiley54]

Keep cleaning it up and once it starts to subside get the lid / glad wrap back on.

It can indeed be a beast!

Get it back on? It hasn't come off completely yet. Do you mean clean and sanitize the outside as much as possible and when it's settling down replace the lid?

BTW I'm fermenting this one at 17 and the banana and clove are in a beautiful restrained balance with some lovely vanilla tones coming through. :icon_drool2:

 

[Guysmiley54]

If you want to avoid a big mess

In a draft free room, move the fermenter and assemble your gladwrap & paper towel.

rouse the fermenter somewhat, i generally find it cuases the yeast to bloom some more then subside back into the beer.

Peel off the gladwrap from the fermenter and toss into a plastic bag.

wipe down around the rim of the fermenter the excess krausen/yeast, feel free to hit your secondary paper with some starsan if you feel so inclined.

re-wrap with some glad wrap.

back to business, happy days. :icon_cheers:

Do you find you have to repeat the process for a crazy yeast like 3068?

 

[raven19]

I guess the thing to keep in mind is positive pressure from the ferment during the krausen means bugs are kept out. Once it subsides the positive pressure is reduced then dissipates to near zero.

I would go with Fourstar's approach or just ensure some gladwrap is covering the fermentor even if it leaks out the side.

You could replace with a solid lid and blowoff tube into a bucket to capture the mess...