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Author Topic: WLP028 krausen won't fall  (Read 1504 times)

Offline Richard

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WLP028 krausen won't fall
« on: May 31, 2018, 09:03:31 am »
I am brewing a Scottish Ale with WLP028 Edinbugh Ale Yeast, and the krausen isn't falling. The gravity dropped to 1.017 (right on target for FG) within 5 days, and there was a 3" - 4" layer of "gooey" krausen on top at the peak of fermentation. There has been no noticeable airlock activity or change in gravity in the following 5 days. The krausen has thinned to about 1/2", but it is still covering the whole surface. I bumped the temperature up from 67 to 70 on day 7, but three days later there is no change. I am now running the temperature down to 60 to see if that will encourage the krausen to drop out. Anything else I can do other that wait it out? Is this typical behavior for this yeast?
Original Gravity - that would be Newton's

Offline hopfenundmalz

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Re: WLP028 krausen won't fall
« Reply #1 on: May 31, 2018, 09:32:53 am »
Some yeasts form what has been referred to as a pancake on top of the beer that resists falling. I have raked from under it, no problems.
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Offline TeeDubb

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Re: WLP028 krausen won't fall
« Reply #2 on: May 31, 2018, 09:36:23 am »
I brewed a lower gravity Ale with Wyeast 1332 a few years ago and had the same thing happen.  OG was 1.046 and dropped to 1.014 in just 2-3 days.  I let it sit for 7 days just to make sure the terminal gravity was stable and to see if the sticky krausen would disappear.  It did not, so I just used a sanitized spoon to grab the mess on top, racked and bottled and everything turned out fine.  It took a while to clean the top of the fermenter!

If i'm not mistaken, Wyeast 1332 and WLP028 are both UK origin and may be genetically similar?  I would not worry, maybe this is typical of these strains.

Offline Richard

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Re: WLP028 krausen won't fall
« Reply #3 on: May 31, 2018, 10:49:47 am »
Thanks for the input. I have used WY1332 several times and it usually clears slowly between days 6 and 10, but it does have a persistent gooey layer. The current batch is in a carboy with a spigot at the bottom, so I am going to cool it down to 34 for a few days, then drain it out from the bottom. I'm not sure I could go in from the top and scrape it off.
Original Gravity - that would be Newton's