is 2nd fermentation normal in secondary?

i have a honey ale that has been in secondary for a week so far. its starting to ferment again today.

i followed the recipe except for adding another pound of sugar while cooking it, and the dry hopping with 3 types of hops 1 oz each: somcoe, amarillo, and cascade.

it was in the fermenter for about 4 weeks. OG was 1.064 and FG was 1.010 at the time i put it in secondary. since secondary ive been shaking it up occasionally and watch it release some CO2 trapped and mix up the hops. today it started fermenting again. it has bubbles coming up, airlock activity, and a krausen appearing, although small.

this is a second run for a yeast i harvested from my last batch if that is any useful information relating to this.

is there something i did wrong or is there an explanation why this happens? i assumed that after 4 weeks of activity it would be out of gas.

Since your FG was 1.010 I'm fairly certain it's not fermenting. It's probably just a combo of nucleation sites from the hops, you shaking it, and temperature rise that is causing the CO2 to come out of solution.

+1 on ryush!

im sure youre right but it looks just like fermenting.

at first i was shaking it and after an hour it would clear again and the release of CO2 would stop when i was done shaking it.

today it had not been clear all day and bubbles have been coming up for a good 12 hours. ive done several batches the same way and have noted the nucleation each time. this seems to be something different

Only way to know for sure is pull another hydro on it. If its still about 1.010 then it's just CO2 release. If its significantly lower you may have some other issue going on.

well i got home from work this after noon and noticed a krausen has formed about an inch thick and a bubble is coming out of the airlock about every 3 seconds. i havent shaked it for a good 24 hours now. at this point i dont think i need a hydrometer to confirm, its apparent that it is fermenting again.

what could be going on?

One danger of secondary is infection- wild bacteria can ferment yeasts to a lower FG than the brewing yeasts. Taste it, see if it is sour / acidic. If so, drink it fast.

would wild bacteria cause a fermentation with a big krausen and airlock activity that looks just like a normal fermentation?

It might if it's taken hold. Is there any whitish slimy,bubbly spider web like stuff forming on top? That'd be an infection.

i dont see any white spiderweb, it is a green lumpy foam that looks like normal fermenting.

the yeast i used was harvested from my last batch, and it took a few days to get it going in the starter. also when i siphoned it into the secondary i think i got more sediment than i really wanted. plus it is a honey ale and the honey only boiled for a couple minutes. is it possible there were some sugars trapped somewhere that werent able to ferment until i was shaking it up?

everything about it seems normal except for the fact it is fermenting a second time?

Edit:
well never mind. i just tasted it and it was extremely bitter and acidic tasting. is there any way to salvage anything now?

Maybe the honey took a lil longer to finish fermenting? You might knock off a couple more points.

Yeah - the dry hop does seem to start something going. The third day of dry hop has always had a bit of a foam (1/2 inch) on my batches. Let it go for a week and see if it settles down. Flavor during this time is gonna be deceiving. It needs to finish and age some.

Temperature changes and interaction of hops with the beer will release co2/cause airlock activity. This is normal.

Yeah,some co2 off gassing is normal. But with the amount of krausen built up the 2nd time,I thought maybe something else was afoot besides hops.

so even though it might taste bitter now, its not necessarily a sign of infection?

it took about 4 days after transferring to secondary before this fermentation started. its been fermenting for about 2 days now and is slowing down. when it starts clearing ill take a gravity reading and taste it.

i really dont want to throw it out. its been one ive been looking forward to sharing with friends. i was sure i was thorough with sanitizing everything that touched the beer. when i tasted it yesterday the aroma of the dry hop was so tasty. maybe ill be able to drink it after all.