Skimming the Krausen

[GuingesRock]

I think you are supposed to do that for real ale. I’m going to start I think.

Does anyone do it? How do you do it? When do you do it? What’s the theory behind it?

Pros and cons?

Thanks

[Jimmy]

I don't know if there's any purpose to it regarding real ale, but typically it's done to harvest yeast. The yeast from krausen is almost 100% viable - so it's a better choice than removing from the bottom.

[Tony L]

Also skimmed to keep the brun heffe out of the beer. It usually sticks to the sides of the fermenter, but some do fall back into the beer and cause a more harsh type of bittering than if it were skimmed off. I never noticed any difference, and as far as I know no one else I know did either.

[mattvincent24]

I think some people do it to increase ester production. your removing yeast, so i guess its kinda like under pitching without the longer lag time.

[GuingesRock]

I think some people do it to increase ester production. your removing yeast, so i guess its kinda like under pitching without the longer lag time.

Thanks Jimmy, and TonyL and mattvincent24.

Mattvincent24. I tried to find out why it's done in real ale and couldn't find out much, but you might have hit on the reason. That's very interesting. Let me know if you know any more about that. Sounds like it might be theoretically correct. I also read that traditionally real ale's have slight diacetyl which is accepted, and part of it all. This might also be one of the reasons for that, although it is supposed to come from open fermentation techniques and the yeast being exposed to more oxygen on the surface.

[mattvincent24]

I may have ready that in the book "YEAST" by Jamil Zainasheff. We i get off work i'll have a look and see if there is anymore info.

[mattvincent24]

I have also heard of brewerys that use open fermenters that fill them almost to the top, so when the krausen forms it pretty much falls out of the fermenter. Kind of like an auto-skim. I seen a time lapsed video of this on youtube. i'll try to find that again also.

[GAM]

I think you are supposed to do that for real ale. I’m going to start I think.

Does anyone do it? How do you do it? When do you do it? What’s the theory behind it?

Pros and cons?

Thanks

The easiest way would likely be to ferment in a full carboy and use a blow off tube.

Sandy

[mattvincent24]

The easiest way would likely be to ferment in a full carboy and use a blow off tube.

Sandy

And add a sanitized collection vessel at the end of your blow off tube and you'll collect some very healthy yeast.

[GuingesRock]

The easiest way would likely be to ferment in a full carboy and use a blow off tube.

Sandy

And add a sanitized collection vessel at the end of your blow off tube and you'll collect some very healthy yeast.

I'm going to display my ignorance here.

I'm skimming the yeast (krausen) this evening (end of day 2) with a sanitised spoon. There is a mass of it in there. I won't be re-using it this time, but if I wanted to do that next time, how would I store it? Would a sanitized Tupperware container with a lid and put it in the fridge be ok? How long could I keep it? Can I throw the whole lot of it into the next brew, or would that be too much? would I need to bother with a starter?

I never looked into it before, but if I don't hear back, I'll read the chapter on that in the yeast book, which I skipped, as so far I have been using new yeast each time.

[amartin]

The easiest way would likely be to ferment in a full carboy and use a blow off tube.

Sandy

And add a sanitized collection vessel at the end of your blow off tube and you'll collect some very healthy yeast.

I'm going to display my ignorance here.

I'm skimming the yeast (krausen) this evening (end of day 2) with a sanitised spoon. There is a mass of it in there. I won't be re-using it this time, but if I wanted to do that next time, how would I store it? Would a sanitized Tupperware container with a lid and put it in the fridge be ok? How long could I keep it? Can I throw the whole lot of it into the next brew, or would that be too much? would I need to bother with a starter?

I never looked into it before, but if I don't hear back, I'll read the chapter on that in the yeast book, which I skipped, as so far I have been using new yeast each time.

I do this all the time. I collect about half of the yeast at a time, over one or two days, depending on how much I get. Then I store it in a sanitized container in the fridge, with some boiled and cooled water on it. The boiling is not only to sanitize it, but also to deoxygenate it to keep it dormant in the fridge. I'll leave it in the fridge for up to two months, and then add it to a one gallon starter for the next batch (10 - 15 gallons). Some yeasts top crop better than others, and if you miss your opportunity you can always grab it from the bottom later. I've been using the same strain of Wyeast 1272 since April 2012 this way.

[GuingesRock]

Thanks.

I came home to skim, and I just missed the boat at 48 hours. 3/4 of the surface yeast had sunk. I maybe should have done it when I got up this morning, or maybe last night at 24 hours.

I can’t save my yeast. It’s full of flippin hops.

Mattvincent24, I couldn't find that in his brewing elements yeast book. If you find the page # would you let me know please. There's lots on top cropping starting page 149.