2nd Krausen ?
Posted: Fri Dec 18, 2009 5:53 am
by Fritz Eye
So I brewed up an all grain Rye Pale Ale, mashed at 153%, SG at 1.051 and pitch Wyeast 1272 Cal Ale II via a starter on a stir plate and blast of pure O2 for 1 minute.
Temp of wort at pitch was 64% and warms up to around 66% for the next 4 days.
Base grains consisted 10 lbs. of 2-row and 1.5 lbs. of Rye.
Fermentation has a full krausen the next moring and slowly winds down to no krausen at all 4 days after pitching and temps lower back to around 62-64%
I ignore the carboy for a few days and this morning I noticed a new krausen, but no activity in the airlock..... WTF? temp on carboy is now 62%.
I have not tasted it or taken a hydrometer reading yet, but the airlock smells awesome.
Has anybody experiended this before?
Cheers.
Re: 2nd Krausen ?
Posted: Fri Dec 18, 2009 7:56 am
by brewinhard
Only when fermenting sour beers as the pellicle forms and that usually takes much longer than a few days as in your case. I guess you will find out when a hydrometer sample is taken as to what is going on. Are you sure its a krausen and not just CO2 buildup escaping to the surface? Keep us posted!
Re: 2nd Krausen ?
Posted: Fri Dec 18, 2009 8:17 am
by mookie1010
brewinhard wrote:Are you sure its a krausen and not just CO2 buildup escaping to the surface? Keep us posted!
That's what I was thinking as well.
Re: 2nd Krausen ?
Posted: Fri Dec 18, 2009 1:27 pm
by Fritz Eye
thanks for you interest, there was a 2 inch thick head of foam that had a shiny caramel sheen to the top of it. I swirled it around this morning and it was for the most part gone when I came home from work.
So far so good, took a hydrometer sample, gravity at 1.013 and tastes fine, OK, maybe a bit oxidized but that may be from some bad Centennial hops.
To play it safe I racked to another carboy and dry hopped with 1 oz. of Columbus.
I will keg it a week from now and will report back on the results once gain.
Cheers.
Re: 2nd Krausen ?
Posted: Fri Dec 18, 2009 1:33 pm
by Bruck
I had it happen once. The beer still turned out OK. I did a bit of research and it put my mind at ease. Can't really remember what the reason was, but my guess is that temperature had to do with it.
Re: 2nd Krausen ?
Posted: Fri Dec 18, 2009 4:46 pm
by jwatkins56550
mookie1010 wrote:brewinhard wrote:Are you sure its a krausen and not just CO2 buildup escaping to the surface? Keep us posted!
Isn't that kind of one in the same thing? Doesn't a krausen occur because yeast cells are releasing co2, and that c02 is forced to the top where at the surface yeast cells are trapped in the gas bubbles?
So if there were a second krausen it could be a really powdery yeast and c02 buildup pushing the c02 and yeast to the surface
Kind of thinking out loud...