In my latest batch my OG was 1.068 with a target FG of about 1.015, pitching WLP001 (california ale) from a pretty decent starter. After a week of primary fermentation I was going to rack to a secondary and popped the lid on my plastic bucket to find the yeast still in high krausen!! I had carefully watched my air lid and it hadn't been moving any air in a couple days so I grabbed my hydrometer, the gravity was 1.030. This is where it gets weird for me...by moving some of the krausen to get a gravity reading I had made a hole in the krausen. Immediately I noticed lots of CO2 bubbles coming up thru the hole in the krausen so I put the lid back on it and the air lock is once again going like crazy.
So...was the krausen somehow holding the remaining CO2 in the beer? Did all the hops somehow make a super thick krausen that didn't allow other CO2 thru? I'll continue to take reading throughout the week and see if the air lock slows down any...but I've never had a krausen so thick that was apparently blocking the release of CO2. Any thoughts? Is this common and I've just never noticed it? Thanks!
Casey
**Note: I don't normally make high IBU beers so if this is common plus let me know!**
Topic: Krausen Lid? (Read 1472 times)
