liebertron

Recipes 

I primary fermented a rye IPA for 4 weeks and then transferred it to secondary for 5 weeks (secondary was just until I killed a keg). It seemed stable but ive noted a few air bubbles in the air lock the past couple days.

I am done waiting and put it in the fridge for a cold crash tonight and will keg in a couple days...

Whats the deal? anyone know?

If it isnt done fermenting am I risking off flavors?

WPL001, kept at cellar temp, 1L yeast starter, had strong and quick initial fermentation.

Hex23

Recipes 

Bubbling in secondary is not a sure sign of further fermentation. It is actually pretty common without fermentation. It's simply off-gassing of CO2. It can happen more with temperature fluctuations or even with stable temps.

veritas524

Recipes 

Gravity reading?

homebrewdad

Recipes 

Consistent gravity readings a couple of days apart are the ONLY way to know if fermentation is done. Bubbles mean nothing at all.

Nine weeks in, though, I'd be shocked if it wasn't done.

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Fermenting: Yorkshire square brown ale
Bottled: Belgian golden strong ale, Yorkshire square brown ale, Leffe Blonde clone, imperial nut brown ale

Revvy

Recipes 

Bubbling in the airlock and fermentation are not the same.....an airlock bubbles for various reasons, change in atmospheric pressure, change in temp, the cat brushing against the fermenter, it doesn't mean anything whatsoever, just like airlocks not bubbling mean nothing. It's a vent, a valve to release excess co2. Change in temp means that more than likely the gas in the headspace has expanded, like gasses to often do when heated, or the change in temp is causing some of the co2 to come out of solution. That's why it's not a good idea to equate a bubbling airlock with fermentation, because they can bubble independently of fermentation, or not bubble DESPITE fermentation

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Spritepo

Recipes 

I had a saison fermented without a single bubble whole time. So my experience says that taking a gravity reading is the way to go.