Krausen already falling

Bierman707

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It's only 3 days and the krausen is falling to the bottom already. Is this a bad sign?
 
What yeast and at what temperature? It is a bit fast, but with an active yeast and at the higher end of the temp range it can happen , especially with a moderate gravity wort. RDWHAHB.
 
What yeast and at what temperature? It is a bit fast, but with an active yeast and at the higher end of the temp range it can happen , especially with a moderate gravity wort. RDWHAHB.
I pitched the yeast at 80°F. It the Danstar Munich. I pitched 2 packs in 4.5 gallons of wort.
 
too warm, sorry it's probably done and might have an off flavor
 
I pitched the yeast at 80°F. It the Danstar Munich. I pitched 2 packs in 4.5 gallons of wort.
Holy shit! :eek:I'm surprised it took 3 days. 80 is too warm to pitch. More yeast won't necessarily hurt, but with wheat beers like you seem to be craving, the flavors are developed with slightly under-pitched yeast. Lagers that need super-clean malt flavor and no yeast contribution benefit from big pitches.
At the risk of sounding too critical, I have to suggest that you do a little more research BEFORE you dive in and set about making it up as you go. Learning from mistakes is all well and good but learning as much as possible so as to avoid making mistakes is really, really a good practice. ;)
 
Yeah, 80° is pretty hot. Did the beer cool after you pitched, or did the fermentation continue at that temperature? If you don't have temp control, and if you are starting out I assume you don't, then what I have found that works (not to say that this is the best way, but it helps) is to cool the wort to the low end of the yeast's temp range and let it free rise from there. It's not a perfect method, but it keeps the temp as low as possible in the most critical early hours.
 
Yeah, 80° is pretty hot. Did the beer cool after you pitched, or did the fermentation continue at that temperature? If you don't have temp control, and if you are starting out I assume you don't, then what I have found that works (not to say that this is the best way, but it helps) is to cool the wort to the low end of the yeast's temp range and let it free rise from there. It's not a perfect method, but it keeps the temp as low as possible in the most critical early hours.
Oh no, I had it in an ice bath. It reached 70 degrees pretty fast. Maybe 10 or twelve minutes.
 
Holy shit! :eek:I'm surprised it took 3 days. 80 is too warm to pitch. More yeast won't necessarily hurt, but with wheat beers like you seem to be craving, the flavors are developed with slightly under-pitched yeast. Lagers that need super-clean malt flavor and no yeast contribution benefit from big pitches.
At the risk of sounding too critical, I have to suggest that you do a little more research BEFORE you dive in and set about making it up as you go. Learning from mistakes is all well and good but learning as much as possible so as to avoid making mistakes is really, really a good practice. ;)
That's probably a good idea.
Let me ask you this, once the cold break is established, is it critical that the wort continues to cool rapidly? Meaning, it it hits 90 degrees in under a minute, is it okay to let it cool down normally to the pitch temperature?
 
Oh no, I had it in an ice bath. It reached 70 degrees pretty fast. Maybe 10 or twelve minutes.
If you had it down to 70° that quickly, then the 80° is pretty much a non issue. The worst that might happen is a small loss of yeast viability, but with the 2 packs you pitched that too is a non issue. So other than a small over pitch, I don't see that you will have any issues here. Let us know how this batch turns out.
 
That's probably a good idea.
Let me ask you this, once the cold break is established, is it critical that the wort continues to cool rapidly? Meaning, it it hits 90 degrees in under a minute, is it okay to let it cool down normally to the pitch temperature?
It is not critical that it continue to cool that fast, but the sooner you can get it to pitching temps and get your yeast in the better. The longer you wait to get your yeast in the greater your chance for infection.
 
It reached 70 degrees pretty fast. Maybe 10 or twelve minutes.
If it actually got to 70 pretty quickly then that's much better. If you're cooling that rapidly, just wait until it's down to a viable pitch temp. An accepted practice for Hefe's, Wits and Belgians as well as some other styles is to pitch in the 60's and let it rise slowly in temp over a few days. What will happen if you're not keeping temps low is that exothermic activity will make the wort heat up several degrees above ambient temp. Even though your wort cooled to 70, that's still on the warm end for fermentation. If your ambient temperature was 70 or better, it probably went back up to 76 or 78, maybe higher for the remainder of the fermentation.
In this case, you have a lot of yeast working at full tilt on a relatively low-gravity wort and it'll most likely be drinkable and may be pretty good. Probably lots of banana flavor.
 
Ah let her buck, she'll be right. You may not like what you get but it'll be beer. I had a Kveik brew which wants you fermenting in the 30's (C) blow the lid across the room over the weekend. It will still be beer.

You'll learn as you go what does and doesn't work, the guys here have years of exerpeince over a schlep like me but I remember doing those first batches and the important thing is to follow through with it. Once you've made a batch or two a lot of things suddenly make sense.
 

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