Brew Fridge Question

[MarkA]

I have recently converted an old fridge into a fermentation cupboard (the fridge part doesn't work so it just heats but can't cool, not really a problem considering where I live!)

I have fermented two brews in there, and they seem to take ages to clear. I don't just mean that the beer is hazy, there is a whole layer of yeast scum covering the surface of the beer. Brew number 2 is still in there and has been for 11 days with no sign of the layer disappearing. Both brews were made with S04 and fermented at 18/19 degrees C. I didn't have this in the past when I placed the fermenting bin in a bath of water heated by an aquarium heater, the fermentation would be finished in 4 or 5 days and the beer would be pretty much clear at that point.

Also, though the yeast layer looks a bit weird, I don't want to jump straight in with "is it an infection?" as brew number 1 looked much the same after a couple of weeks and tasted fine once it had matured. Brew 2 has finished at 1.004, as expected.

Has anyone else had this when changing over to a brew fridge/cupboard or similar?

[Piscator]

If you can - a picture would be very useful to help distinguish krausen from pellicle.
My experience of S04 is that it normally drops pretty quickly once finished (even without cold crashing) and certainly in less than 11 days.

Cheers
Steve

[MarkA]

Hi Steve,

Here's a pic.......

[Piscator]

Hi Mark - that doesn't look like an infection to my eyes, it's clumps of yeast but not krausen.
I have experienced that with S04 in the past if I have used protofloc/whirlfloc and not boiled it for at least 20 mins reasonably hard - the finings that didn't get used up on the cold break continued to be active into the fermenter and clumped the yeast together much like your picture and the CO2 kept it floating.
It made very clear beer if I remember correctly as the yeast was bound by the finings so well.

Cheers
Steve

[MarkA]

Thanks Steve, that's good to know! I'll give it a taste test tomorrow before moving it to a cool place for a few days, just to confirm.

Interesting about Whirfloc and Protofloc as this is the first time I've used Irish Moss in a brew (10 minutes from end of boil).

Cheers,

Mark

[MarkA]

I had a taste yesterday and it all seems to be fine I've moved the FV to a cool place, hopefully it'll be ready for bottling next week.

[simon12]

I found if I use to much Irish moss it caused the yeast to clump at the top but it didn't look like your picture.

[MarkA]

This beer has been priming in the bottle for the last two weeks and, thankfully, there seems to be no off flavours so it must be down to the Irish Moss (as opposed to bacteria). Still, this is the clearest beer I've ever made so I will experiment with putting it in the boil a bit earlier, hopefully it'll not clump together like this again. Cheers!