Question about a super thick Krausen on a BW

[sullydavid]

I just started my first Barley Wine about a week ago. It had a really high O.G., 1.147 estimated....more than my hydrometer could measure :)

Anyway everything proceeded as usual for the first 3 days or so. In fact I didn't notice a difference until about day 5 when the primaries were bubbling like crazy still. It has now been 9 days and the bubbles have slowed down to about 1 every 5-7 seconds.

Looking at the Krausen now though and it looks MUCH different than I am used to. Most of the time my Krausen looks nice and foamy with some of the hops bubbled onto the top. With the BW the Krausen is so thick that I would swear it is trub. The Krasuen got to about 3 inches thick and then fell down to the thick glob that it is now. Sorta like a cake that fell after someone was doing jumping jacks next to the oven. Is this just something that happens with high grav beers like Barley Wines or what? Think it will dissipate before I try to rake into secondary, still too soon even consider it I think, but it has my mind a working.

As always any experience you can share is appreciated.

[mmmBeer...]

I have had a heavy krausen, even in lower OG beers, that has had that appearance. Kinda like a cake that fell in the middle, light colors on the outside and a dark circle in the fallen area. Never had a problem with it.

If I had to guess, I would say that the hops/trub rise to the top of the foam, and if not blown off (or at least completely), the foam will only support so much junk and will fall in on itself. I would guess that it will settle out with the trub when the krausen settles.