argh! krausen not falling

[b3s]

my latest brew, a honey wheat, is for all intents and purposes done with primary fermentation. the airlock bubbles about 1-3 times per minute....but while the krausen has reduced, it has not fully fallen. i brewed this batch last sunday and i had hoped to rack today so that i could brew an american pale ale...but the krausen is still about an inch tall.

so, what should i do at this point? it's too late to brew today, but i could brew tomorrow...or do i wait until the krausen totally collapses?

[ray m]

b3s:
I think you're probably ok to rack, but to be on the safe side, I would take a hydrometer reading each of the next 2 days to make sure (assuming you have not done this yet) that the beer is not still in some state of active fermentation. I used to be a "bubble watcher", and still am to some extent, but nothing can make you more sure than a hydrometer reading. Usually my personal barometer is that, after primary fermentation, if the airlock bubbles occur once every 30 seconds or so, you're ok to rack, but I back it up with the hydrometer rule. I am surprised that the krausen foam is still that thick, though. Hope this helps, although it blows your plans of brewing that APA tomorrow out of the water.

ray m

[Tom C]

I imagine that since you are brewing a honey wheat that the honey sugars are taking a longer time to be eaten by the yeast. You should be fine to rack into the secondary to get the ale of the yeast cake. Once in the secondary you could always rack over again once all fermentation is complete.

Tom C

[Fast_Eddy]

Is this in a bucket or carboy?

If it's in a bucket have you confirmed by looking in the top of the bucket that the krausen has(n't) fallen? In other words, if you're just looking at it from the side of the bucket, maybe you're just seeing residual crap that's stuck to the side.

I've always heard that krausen has a whole bunch of stuff in it that really on detracts from your beer anyway...fusel oils, for example. It won't hurt to rack out from under it anyway. So I'm with Tom C - rack it.

[b3s]

well then, i'll rack and brew today...well, i'll at least rack, not sure about the brewing now.

and yeah, it's glass, so i'm sure the krausen has not fallen.

[paul84043]

I think Tom C hit it on the head, the honey is harder to ferment and will take longer.
I have done a few, especially the wheat beers that take a while.
But, I would think that your "high kreusen" stage has passed, so there should be no problem with going to the secondary. You may end up waiting a bit longer for it to finish, but it sounds like it ought to be a really good beer and definitely worth the patience.