MJ Pink Grapefruit IPA: do I wait for Krausen to crash?

[muppix]

I just checked in on this brew for the first time since starting primary nine days ago (left it so long because the airlock's still active) and saw that there's a thick layer of what looks like very active Krausen on top, which makes me think this brew's nowhere near ready for dry-hopping let alone bottling.

The hydrometer says otherwise; I started at 1.054 on Christmas Day and now I'm already at 1.015 whereas the instructions call for stability at or below 1.025 after 7 days. The ambient temperature has been between around 19.6 ℃ until 2 days ago when I realised I'd misread the instructions and was probably storing it a little too cool, so I moved the FV to a warmer location that's now at 22.6 ℃ and stable.

I'm now wondering if I should leave it until it's stable and the Krausen has crashed, or if I check again in 2 or 3 days time and add the hops if I'm still at the same 1.015 as today. My gut feel is to wait until the foam has receded, but as this is a popular brew I thought I'd reach out to the likes of @Scott Begbie, @Milesey and @Didge for advice. My overall plan is to reach stability for two days and then dry-hop, bottling 2 days later. But that foam ...

 

[Rodcx500z]

My trick is to give the fv a couple of not to hard whacks with the back of a large spoon or spatuler

 

[muppix]

My trick is to give the fv a couple of not to hard whacks with the back of a large spoon or spatuler

You kinky bugger. What does that do?

 

[Rodcx500z]

It breaks it down and allows it to drop if it's finished fermenting, i do the same after a dry hop and cold crash

 

[Rodcx500z]

I suspect it's not finished fermenting yet after 9 days i would leave for another 5 days at least

 

[muppix]

That was my thinking too. Does the airlock activity ever influence your judgement? I don't want to open the FV and risk contamination when a regularly popping airlock tells me there's still fermentation in progress.

 

[Rodcx500z]

All my buckets have taps, i ferment for 14 days then take a reading, the airlock is just an indication something is going on, when it stop's doesn't mean the brew is ready i have had brews take 3 weeks to get down to fg

 

[Skippi]

If it helps, I have done this kit twice and the FG ended at 0.009 & 0.011. So I would say yours is not too far from FG.

 

[muppix]

Thanks @Skippi that's good to know. Did the Krausen crash completely on both occasions when you bottled yours?

 

[Skippi]

Both times I dry hopped on day 8, then bottled the first kit of day 21 and the second on day 14. Pretty sure I haven't bottled anything where the krausen hadn't subdued.
For dry hopping I had always thought that it was better to still have some activity to allow the hops to circulate, though I am no expert, perhaps someone with more experience can confirm or deny.

IMO this is better drunk fairly young (still condition for 2+2) as the grapefruit flavour and hop aroma start to fade if left for too long (months).

 

[muppix]

Got it, cheers. Back when I did Evil Dog I dry-hopped on whatever day the instructions told me to, expecting to also bottle a couple of days later as expected. The trouble was that Evil Dog was nowhere near ready at that point, and I spent 17 days stewing those finishing hops into oblivion. Doesn't taste awful, but nowhere near as hoppy as I'd have liked.

Lesson learned: add the finishing touches when the brew is ready to receive them, not when the instructions say. In this case the amount of foam still visible on top means I'm happy to run with advice by @Rodcx500z and let her run a little while longer.

 

[Begbie]

I had a similar dilemma! I checked the SG after 7 days (as per instructions) and it was already at 1.012! (My kitchen sits at about 22 degrees C during the day and drops to about 17 or 18 during the night.)

So, what I decided to do was just to add the hops in a large hop bag on that day. Due to circumstances, I didn't check my SG again for another 6 days, and it was at 1.011. I decided that it was well and truly done and time to batch prime and bottle. If I do this kit again, which I probably will, based on feedback from friends and how much I like it too, I'd just let it ferment out again before adding the hops, and leave for the same amount of time.

So basically, I did 1 week fermenting, 6 days hopping, 2 weeks conditioning and 2 weeks in the loft to clear. I tried a bottle after 1 week of conditioning and was disappointed. 3 weeks later, wow!

 

[muppix]

Nice one, thanks Scott. Good to know that 6 days isn't going to hurt the hops, though being a proper hop-head I'm going to aim for no more than 2 or 3 days, which gives me less of a window to get the primary out of the way. I'll try to exercise some restraint before I open the first one too.

 

[muppix]

Well, here we are 8 days later, and I'm still seeing a bit of foam, though nowhere near as much as there was at the start of this thread. The gravity is now at 1.004 (was 1.015) and according to the instructions this needs to be stable within 2 points of 1.012.

I don't want to wait any longer - can I add the hops on top of that foam and then bottle two or 3 days later? The airlock's still popping every 45 seconds or so but surely it can't go much below 1.004 ... or can it?

 

[Begbie]

Wow, 1.004! I assumed that mines had stabilised at 1.011 as it had been at 1.012 6 days before. I would go ahead and add the hops.

 

[muppix]

I'm an ***** - it's not 1.004, it's 1.014. That's the second time I've looked back over my notes to find I've written down the wrong SG. Good job I keep the pictures - will give it another day or two.

 

[Pavalijo]

My MJ Juicy Session IPA was down to 1.014 after 8 days (target FG 1.010) but with an active Krausen on the surface. Two days later I sterilised my stirring paddle and pushed the Krausen around to create two thirds of clear surface onto which I tipped the hop pellets.
I felt that the fairly thick Krausen would otherwise stop the pellets breaking up and sinking.
Edit - just checked log and it was at 1.012

 

[chillipickle]

Don't mess around clearing the krausen, just dump the hop pellets in.They will soon drop through the krausen, i just done an neipa with verdant ipa yeast the krausen was thick and creamy atleast 4" thick and pellets got through that ok.

 

[muppix]

Cheers for the feedback @chillipickle and @Pavalijo - appreciate it. Out of interest, what made you decide to add hops when there was still Krausen on the brew? I’m pretty new to all this and had assumed (don’t know why) that if there’s foam on top it’s not done yet, and it might be X days before it stabilises. I want to add my hops nearer the end because I’m led to believe that will give me the strongest flavour, and so the presence of Krausen makes me think it’s not quite the right time to throw those little green buggers in just yet. Does that make sense?

 

[chillipickle]

Different styles of beer require you to dry hop at certain times of fermentation.I am far from experienced, but what I learned for kits, add the dry hops just before fermentation finishes.

The neipa I done, hops were added on day 2 and day 5 of fermentation.

Most importanly, leave well alone, don’t keep opening the fv