Can dry hopping restart a fermentation?

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Benedetto

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So yesterday I dry hopped my IPA. Gravity was 1.014, so I assumed it was all done. I racked it to secondary with the hops, and today after work I have new bubbles and a very small krausen stain around the rim of my carboy. Even the airlock is working!

any ideas???
 
Normal for me. A fluffy 1/2 inch foam on top of the ones that have been dry hopped. It subsided after about 4 days. Still leaving a lot of floating hop flakes after that.
 
It may just be Co2 coming out of solution due to the agitation of the beer while transferring to secondary. However you can always take another gravity reading after a couple of days to see.
 
Ya it happens sometimes. I have one right now that was 2 weeks in primary no bubbles nice and clear. so i dry hopped it right in the primary. the next day it clouded over and stuff was rising and falling. Its just starting to clear again now 5 days later. I plan on bottling it tomorrow
 
So not only will my beer make me fat, it will make me glow in the dark too?

Well I guess that won't be all bad....I'll be the one in complete control of the teeter totter and I can eliminate the night light in the bathroom....

Better yet, maybe it will cause me to grow another head and I can drink two different beers at the same time!
 
This happened to me. Thought beer was done at 1.015. Transfered to dry hop for a week with 2 oz of hops gravity dropped another 3 pts to 1.012. I lost alot of the hop aromas too.
 
just checked again and gravity is down to 1.012. aroma is wonderful (now) though a bit "sharp" and "punchy". hopefully it remains pungent, but mellows out in its sharpness.

so, I guess next time I'll need to wait until fermentation is completely done before racking and dryhopping.
 
A nucleation point creates a spot where bubbles can form. Once these bubbles form they rise to the surface and break. The process can be beneficial to beer because the bubbles breaking release more aroma.
 
I just experienced the same issue with a 60min DFH clone, how long before it stops and clears? This is my first dry hopping beer. My gravity was 1.010 when I transferred.
 
for me, it stopped fermenting (again) after about 3 days. the DFH 60min needs a 2 week dry hop, so you're definitely in the clear!
 
Thanks, its been 9 days and it's still bubbling away! I'm getting impatient! I wanna get it kegged and drank! LOL
 
really??? wow, definitely didn't take that long for me.

That's a good brew! Did you use Sam Calagione's recipe from his book? I'm gonna need to make that one again some day
 
No, it was an AG kit from austin homebrew, it looks like the same recipe that is in the BYO 250 clone recipes. I haven't heard of the book, gonna have to check it out.
 
Dryhopping adds a bunch of nucleation points, so it'll bubble after adding the hops (or anything like that).

This simply can't be the only explanation? I mean there are numerous threads on significant airlock activity many days after dry hopping?
 
Hjandersen said:
This simply can't be the only explanation? I mean there are numerous threads on significant airlock activity many days after dry hopping?

Ya, but did the gravity change? Airlock activity means little to nothing and means basically nothing once the beer is at final gravity in pertaining to fermentation occurring. Gasses can come out of solution for many reasons including the dry hop, pressure changes, temperature changes, vibrations, etc.

If the beer was done, it's done with nothing left to ferment unless it got infected.

Haven't you seen the video of the empty Carboy bubbling the airlock;)
 
Hjandersen said:
This simply can't be the only explanation? I mean there are numerous threads on significant airlock activity many days after dry hopping?
sure it can and if you take a gravity reading and find the gravity the same as before the dry hop you'll see.

Pressure and temperature changes can cause suspended co2 to release as well. Every time I dry hop I get bubbles, I expect it and have no concerns about it
 
I have yet to have my beer drop lower after dry hopping, but they always produce off gassing. I racked a Porter onto Vanilla Beans and Cacao Nibs Saturday and it off gassed for at least 36 hours.
 
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