Secondary ferment

B192734 · 03-09-2010, 03:13 PM

So I racked from my primary into a secondary yesterday. In the primary, the beer fermented for about a week. Just before racking over the bubbling had slowed to almost a stop. Very slowly. When I racked over before, the fermentation started back up right away and started bubbling again. This time it hasn't really began bubbling. Is this common, or should something be done? I am moderately new to the whole secondary thing. Just want to make sure of what's going on to start with before I mess with things.

BTW the brew is an American ale, OG about 1.044 and current as of racking over was about 1.011.

OHIOSTEVE · 03-09-2010, 03:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by B192734

So I racked from my primary into a secondary yesterday. In the primary, the beer fermented for about a week. Just before racking over the bubbling had slowed to almost a stop. Very slowly. When I racked over before, the fermentation started back up right away and started bubbling again. This time it hasn't really began bubbling. Is this common, or should something be done? I am moderately new to the whole secondary thing. Just want to make sure of what's going on to start with before I mess with things.

BTW the brew is an American ale, OG about 1.044 and current as of racking over was about 1.011.

I would bet the actual fermentation is done with that gravity. What does the recipe call for as a final gravity?

B192734 · 03-09-2010, 04:02 PM

The recipe called for around 1.011. It then calls for a couple of weeks in the secondary to condition. I just wanted to make sure that things were acting as they should. When I bottle, after having sat for that amount of time, will the yeast still be active enough to carbonate?

**gunner65** · 03-09-2010, 04:04 PM

Airlocks are not an indicator of anything. They are just in place to allow excess CO2 to escape.

BendBrewer · 03-09-2010, 04:10 PM

I bet the prior batch wasn't quite done fermenting when you racked it, hence the continued bubbling in the secondary.

Your yeast in the recent batch is fine, it has just run out of things to eat. When you bottle, the priming sugar will give them something to eat and should carb just fine.