Long, foamy Kreusen

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Peterpasha
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Long, foamy Kreusen

Post by Peterpasha » Thu Mar 14, 2019 3:22 pm

Recipe:
HOME BREW RECIPE:
Title: Black Strap Stout

Brew Method: All Grain
Style Name: American Stout
Boil Time: 60 min
Batch Size: 12 gallons (fermentor volume)
Boil Size: 12 gallons
Boil Gravity: 1.042
Efficiency: 67.05% (brew house)

STATS:
Original Gravity: 1.052
Final Gravity: 1.009
ABV (standard): 5.67%
IBU (tinseth): 34.61
SRM (daniels): 38.32
Mash pH: 5.3

FERMENTABLES:
10 lb - American - Pale 2-Row (40%)
2 lb - American - Carapils (Dextrine Malt) (8%)
2 lb - American - Dark Chocolate (8%)
2 lb - Flaked Barley (8%)
2 lb - Flaked Oats (8%)
2 lb - Blackstrap Molasses - (8%)
1 lb - American - Munich - 60L (4%)
2 lb - American - Roasted Barley (8%)
1 lb - Brown Sugar - (4%)
1 lb - Cacao nibs, milled.

Hopped with Brewer's Gold and Fuggles

Pitched with 2 packets of Safale S-05.
20190314_150336.jpg
I used to brew this as a basic all-grain stout and add 6 oz of Cruzan Blackstrap Rum in the keg. Then I got thinking about it and decided that I didn't want to waste good rum like this, so I decided to try brewing it with actual blackstrap molasses and demerara sugar in the boil and take advantage of the extra sugars to get that unique flavour.

This is two weeks past brew date and this kreusen is still foamy and is pretty high in the fermenter. I've witnessed no airlock activity, but something has happened cause the gravity is 1.026. It smells a little alcoholy but nothing else. There is a kreusen ring on the fermenter but this foam is something else, it's consistency is almost frothy.
I asked out at Everwood, but they didn't have any sage advice. I'm starting to wonder if I underpitched, that the extra unusual sugars in the wort were too much for the yeast despite the average gravity reading.
Any thoughts?
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On Tap:
Irreplaceable Pale Ale
On Deck:

Fermenting
Black IPA
Planning
Irish Red Ale

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John G
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Re: Long, foamy Kreusen

Post by John G » Thu Mar 14, 2019 4:51 pm

Sugars are easier for the yeast to metabolise, and so in a sugar-rich wort, the yeast often end up not replicating enough new yeast during their initial growth phase that have the enzymes to break down complex maltose sugars into simple sugars. If this is the case you may need to overpitch to compensate for this (next time you brew it).

Another issue I find when I add significant amounts of sugar to the initial wort is that the yeast starts off fast and heats up the wort quickly, presumably from metabolising the simple sugars first, and then slows down when these sugars are gone, causing the wort to cool down which can cause the yeast to drop out or slow down significantly. In that case, I typically add heat to maintain the naturally ramped up temperature from the initial part of fermentation to nurse the yeast along and finish metabolising the complex maltose sugars and dry the beer out. If it's not moving from 1.026 for a few days, bump the temperature up by a few degrees and see if it reinvigorates the yeast.

Hopefully that helps.

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