Wy 1007 - Down To 1010 But Still A Massive Krausen

[manticle]

I've got 2 brews on at the moment - one Golden Tett ale (I've done this before but with US05) and one a vaguely altbier-ish attempt. Both have been on for roughly the same time. Both OGs around the 1055 mark.
Both full mash. Both using 1007. Normally I rack to secondary around the 1020 mark but I'm experimenting with keeping these in primary to see if I notice a difference.

They taste good (at least as good as fermenting unconditioned beer ever does) and they both have very, very healthy krausen. They are also both down to around 1010 by which time I would normally expect krausen to be dropping off (have a 1272 American brown that's got a smattering of foam and is on 1020). This stuff is thick (yes I have already harvested some).

Wyeast website suggests this is a true top cropping yeast and that it takes a while to drop out of suspension. Obviously I'll check my gravity again in three days and make sure it's dropped no further but should I cold condition once that's happened or wait until krausen diminishes?

Interested in suggestions from any who've experienced this yeast before.

 

[Stuster]

The krausen will linger for ages with that yeast. Nothing to worry about though. How long has it been on? Personally, I'd just leave it a week or so, then cold condition for a while. The yeast will also take ages to drop out. Other than that I really like this yeast. Nice and clean, low FG in general but beers don't taste too dry or thin.

 

[Goofinder]

Interesting - I've been wondering about my Altbier that still has a thick krausen on top. It has been in the fermenter 10 days or so and I was thinking it should be just about done. I might go check the gravity and see where it's at.

 

[manticle]

The krausen will linger for ages with that yeast. Nothing to worry about though. How long has it been on? Personally, I'd just leave it a week or so, then cold condition for a while. The yeast will also take ages to drop out. Other than that I really like this yeast. Nice and clean, low FG in general but beers don't taste too dry or thin.

Put them both down just under a fortnight ago. I might leave them for another few days then start to cold condition. I thought it might be symptomatic of this yeast but good to know for sure.

The alt was inoculated with a starter made from top cropping the first one and it is actually lower than the golden despite being put on a few days following. I guess we can call this yeast 'healthy'.

Additionally original pack was very fresh (I think Jan 2010 from memory) so it was one of the few times I just smacked, let swell then pitched the whole lot straight in.

Cheers

 

[drsmurto]

This is one crazy yeast.

Re-pitching seems to energise it.

I collected the yeastcake from an Alt on Sunday. On Wednesday i added 1.5L of fresh wort to it planning on adding it the next day to a new batch of Alt. Less than an hour later it had escaped the 5L flask. I dumped it into the new wort and then next morning the krausen was almost to the lid. 20L in a 30L fermenter.

Think i will top crop some in a week and use it in an APA.

Agree 100% with stuster. Despite the high attenuation it produces a very malty beer.

 

[Kai]

Wyeast website suggests this is a true top cropping yeast and that it takes a while to drop out of suspension. Obviously I'll check my gravity again in three days and make sure it's dropped no further but should I cold condition once that's happened or wait until krausen diminishes?

Yes, that's a 'true top cropper' you've got going there. I'd cold condition as soon as you're happy fermentation is finished, also consider racking the beer out from under that krausen, it'll speed up your clarification process a little (rather than having the krausen fall back into the beer as you CC).

 

[manticle]

Yes, that's a 'true top cropper' you've got going there. I'd cold condition as soon as you're happy fermentation is finished, also consider racking the beer out from under that krausen, it'll speed up your clarification process a little (rather than having the krausen fall back into the beer as you CC).

Normally I rack every beer. These were the two I was going to stick with primary just to see how much difference I noticed (after so many people suggest secondary ferment makes no difference).

I think I'll take your advice, rack to secondary and make my non racking experiment a batch that uses a yeast I'm familiar with.