What have I got here?

[guildofevil]

Hi All,

I have a strange looking brew fermenting at the moment and I was wondering if you had any thoughts.

I cooked up an all grain brown ale, OG: 1.054 and pitched a starter made from cultured Duvel yeast.

I have done this before with great success and this time seemed no different, as the primary fermentation went as expected and after four days the krausen began to drop.

When I went to rack it after 7 days in the primary I noticed that there appeared to be more krausen than before and that it looked different, kind of dusty, or something.

Gravity was 1.014 at this point.

I racked it anyway and kept an eye on it.

The krausen, or whatever it is, formed again over the next few days and eventually covered the beer again.

It is now 23 days since that brew day and I still have layer of stuff on the top of the beer!

What is this? It looks like krausen, if a little filmy or dusty or something but surely it cannot be?

It doesn't smell bad either, it just smells like fermenting Belgian beer.

What have I got here?

[HogieWan]

It looks like krausen that won't fall. I wouldn't worry about it.

[Derekt2]

Originally posted by HogieWan
It looks like krausen that won't fall. I wouldn't worry about it.

Something really fugly?

If the gravity stabilizes, it tastes okay, and the beer clears, it should be just fine. I don't know much about Duvel although they were purported to use more than one yeast (and that may no longer be true anyway) so who knows. Those silly Belgians!

[haaseg]

If your gravity went from 1.054 to 1.014, I think it would be safe to assume that all of the fermentable wort has been taken.

Although it could be something else that's now eating the unfermentable stuff. I think Papazian called them gusher infections because they cause bottlecaps to blow.

It would be intersting to know if it's still active. You could tell by taking another gravity, and/or if the airlock is still bubbling.

[guildofevil]

Ok. I just took another gravity reading. It's 1.010.

Tasted a bit and it tastes OK.

No blindness or convulsions yet. Will keep you posted.

Séan

[Fast_Eddy]

Originally posted by guildofevil
...
No blindness or convulsions yet. Will keep you posted.

Séan

If it kills you please let us know.

I would go ahead and rack it out from under the gunk. Eventually the krauesen(yes folks this is the right way to spell it) will fall and there's nothing good(not necessarily bad(sometimes excessive bittering compound)) in it.

[bruin_ale]

I had a belgian wit that looked like that a while back, except the foam was lighter and it smelled sour. Racked from under the krauesen and conditioned a few weeks and it ended up being great. Tastes almost exactly like Hoegaarden.

[guildofevil]

I'll rack it off the gunk tonight and see if it forms again.

I certainly hope this one does work out. It's Betty's favourite and it is important to keep the S.O. happy with this expansionist hobby.

Séan

[YamahaXS]

keep us posted... i bet it will turn out great!