It started fermenting again in 2nd?

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Dionysos911

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This is my first batch so I am still pretty new at this so I was wondering if this was normal. I left my IPA in primary for a about a week and half. Toward the end I test gravity every couple days and it seemed to stop at .018.

I racked to secondary then put in the dry hop bag to let it clear and flavor. For a week nothing was happening then a few days ago it started to get a foam over the top, looks just like head. Now the air lock is bubbling every couple minutes. Is this normal?

I haven't tested the gravity since moving to 2nd so can't really prove that the yeasties are feasting again. Just airlock reference and the foam.
 
It could have warmed up and brought yeast back into activity. Take another gravity reading to see if it changed. it's know to happen when transferring. It could also just be releasing CO2 that was previously in the beer. But only way to know is a gravity reading.
 
fwiw, I put mine outside in ~30-38F snowy weather yesterday after it had been sitting at 52F for five days, and just before I was going to bottle, I noticed airlock activity. A SG reading confirmed it had dropped from 1.014 to 1.013 in 48 hours, even with the crash cooling.

I'll wait on the bottling as long as SWMBO or the fermentation can wait (24 days now).
 
Sure enough it started fermenting again. I moved to secondary after it was stuck at 1.018 for a week. I took a reading last night and it was down to 1.014. Also, the sample tasted GREAT!
 
What was the original gravity? I'm guessing it was high enough (e.g. >1.060 or so) that you should have made a yeast starter to prevent a stuck fermentation.
 
alpo said:
What was the original gravity? I'm guessing it was high enough (e.g. >1.060 or so) that you should have made a yeast starter to prevent a stuck fermentation.
Click to expand...

The starting gravity was 1.055
 
Hmm.. that's kinda borderline. Was the yeast old or was the fermentation temp cold, like sub 60, or anything?

If not, who knows. $hit happens sometimes. I brewed a honey wheat a while back with an OG of, I think, 1.054 and it took over 2 weeks to ferment with the temp around 67F. (though, it never did get stuck)

Oh, how long did you wait between gravity readings? You're supposed to wait around 3 days to see if it moves.

Regardless, I understand it's only your first batch, but read a little about yeast starters. I didn't start using them until batch #7 or 8, but in hindsight, I wish I had started sooner. They can prevent these things from happening. They are not always necessary, but they do always help things move along more efficiently and it supposedly makes a better beer. It's pretty easy, but you have to start it a couple days in advance.
 
alpo said:
Hmm.. that's kinda borderline. Was the yeast old or was the fermentation temp cold, like sub 60, or anything?

If not, who knows. $hit happens sometimes. I brewed a honey wheat a while back with an OG of, I think, 1.054 and it took over 2 weeks to ferment with the temp around 67F. (though, it never did get stuck)

Oh, how long did you wait between gravity readings? You're supposed to wait around 3 days to see if it moves.

Regardless, I understand it's only your first batch, but read a little about yeast starters. I didn't start using them until batch #7 or 8, but in hindsight, I wish I had started sooner. They can prevent these things from happening. They are not always necessary, but they do always help things move along more efficiently and it supposedly makes a better beer. It's pretty easy, but you have to start it a couple days in advance.
Click to expand...

I took 3 gravity readings over a week and it was pretty much stuck at 1.018

Primary ferment was at a pretty stable 65. I do think temp change is what caused it though. I had some friends stay over and they turned the heat up by a couple degrees. I didn't think only a couple degrees would make a difference but I guess it did.

I will start looking into yeast starters. As soon as I bottle this batch I am going to order some ingredients to start on batch 2. Quite the intoxicating hobby.
 

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