IPA still fermenting after 25 days?!

this is my very first batch of beer.
it's been in the secondary for about 20 days now, and there is still airlock activity and small bubbles fizzing up the sides of my carboy.

we dry-hopped it twice in the last 20 days, once when we racked, and once about 5 days ago..

the beer isn't settling and clearing, there has been no visual change in the last 20 days except the hops have mostly settled to the bottom.

the trub on the bottom is fairly thick, maybe an inch or more. i really want to get me beer off of there as soon as possible

i know i should do a hydrometer, i haven't done that lately, but it seems to me like fermentation is still taking place. i want to do as few gravity readings as possible.

is there a chance it could be done fermenting and the hops are just causing CO2 to exolve from my brew?

how can i get this beer to clear up and settle down before i bottle?

thanks for reading!

You don't know it is still fementing, all you know, without taking a hydrometer reading is that your airlock is bubbling. I can't say this enough, that is NOT the same thing.

Remember, all and airlock is is a valve, a vent to release EXCESS co2...Not an accurate gauge of fermentation....all it means is that co2 is needing to come out...and nothing more.

As you can see in this thread...https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/strange-thing-happens-now-when-i-dry-hop-196257/

Rather than thanking us for reading, why don't you do your beer a favor, and TAKE a reading..A hydrometer reading.

Revvy said:

Rather than thanking us for reading, why don't you do your beer a favor, and TAKE a reading..A hydrometer reading.

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i'll do one right now, then again in 3 days.
i had a feeling someone was going to tell me that.

and suggestions how i can get my beer to stop churning in the tank so it can settle and clear before bottling? am i harming it by keeping it in the secondary for so long?

Rather than thanking us for reading, why don't you do your beer a favor, and TAKE a reading..A hydrometer reading.

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Be calm now, big Dawg....

Beer was here before hydrometers...

Be calm now, big Dawg....

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A little internet sensitive are we????

There's nothing wrong with that statement, I though it was very creatively written.... I thought it was one of my best lines ever. It wasn't written in malice....


I thought it was plithy like a Burma shave ad.





Besides, obviously the Op didn't have a problem with it, else he would have said something.

littleScrapper said:

and suggestions how i can get my beer to stop churning in the tank so it can settle and clear before bottling? am i harming it by keeping it in the secondary for so long?

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what is causing it to "churn"? Just the CO2 as it is released? Best way to clear it at this point would be to cold crash it for a couple of days, once you decide it is done fermenting. At this point I would think it has to be done.

steinsato said:

what is causing it to "churn"? Just the CO2 as it is released? Best way to clear it at this point would be to cold crash it for a couple of days, once you decide it is done fermenting. At this point I would think it has to be done.

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i'm not sure, possibly the CO2 being released.
there seems to be some yeast in suspension, the beer is still cloudy.
the first day we added dry hops, the beer was actually calm at first and began to settle at the top. after a day or so, it began to produce small bubbles that i can see coming up the sides.
little hop chunks can be seen floating up and down in my carboy

I had something very similar happen to me and a Belgian I've just bottled. Again my trub was thick (about 1.5 inches in a gallon demijohn), it wasn't clearing after a month and there were still bubbles going up the sides. I figured that it was a very slow breakdown of the trub into edible sugars that was keeping the yeast ticking over.

I racked into a secondary leaving the trub behind and low and behold, it cleared in about 3-4 days.

It's always worth taking a reading, but it does sound very similar to my experience. The said beer is shaping up to be a beauty so it doesn't look like the extra trub love has done it any harm (to allay any fears you may have)!

Jim

My latest IPA is doing the same. If you crash chill the beer, it will clear just fine.

jimwormold said:

I racked into a secondary leaving the trub behind and low and behold, it cleared in about 3-4 days.

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this beer is already in a secondary.

should i risk contamination and rack it again? i'm not sure i can get the temperatures to cold crash. maybe like 40 deg. over night.

or should i just bottle and then give it a few weeks, then refrigerate before drinking?

I would not rack it again. Keep it at 40F for a couple of days.

I use a grain bag, the one you do steeping with for partial mash, on the auto siphon to do somewhat of a filtering. It has worked great. I don't stick the siphon all the way down, I just keep an eye on it, and move it further down while racking into a keg.

littleScrapper said:

i'll do one right now, then again in 3 days.
i had a feeling someone was going to tell me that.

and suggestions how i can get my beer to stop churning in the tank so it can settle and clear before bottling? am i harming it by keeping it in the secondary for so long?

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Let us know your gravity reading. Also, any you have taken any along the way (e.g. OG and when you racked)

25 days is a long time for it to still be fermenting or even showing airlock/carboy bubbling as you describe it, unless it is going through some severely fluctuating temperatures causing the CO2 to be moving in and out of solution - and even then, it would have to be rather extreme.

i just measured and it's 1.010. it already tastes absolutely amazing, i could just start drinking it out of the carboy right now!

before pitching the yeast, the gravity was about 1.056. so does this mean i've got about 82% attenuation?

should i even bother waiting 3 days to take another reading? i want to bottle and carbonate as soon as possible

I would clear it before I'd bottle.

Crash cool it to clear, and if you don't have a spare fridge use gelatin or isinglass.

Once you're clear, then bottle away.

I would still take another reading...it could still go lower (though hopefully not).
1.010 is pretty low. Was this an all-grain batch? What yeast did you use?

i am using the Brew House IPA kit, which is an all grain wort you can buy in canada. i think you get about 2 or 3 gallons and you just add water and yeast

i used the 11 g pack of coopers yeast that came with the kit. i will wait 3 days then bottle if there is no change

will clarity affect the taste at all? it will just be my brother and i drinking it so we don't really care. it already tastes great and will hopefully clear a bit in the bottle

bottle it, wait a few weeks, then drink it! it will clear in the bottles.

I brewed up an IPA from extract and dry-hopped, and quite a few floaties got bottled. They all settled out pretty well in the bottle, and as long as you pour correctly (using the shoulder of the bottle to capture the yeast and other things) you should have relatively clear beer.

Is there a big change in temperature from night to day? Could it be thermal expansion/retraction?

wacko said:

Is there a big change in temperature from night to day? Could it be thermal expansion/retraction?

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it is at a steady 70 degrees in my back room, and i wrapped it in a blanket. no change in temp all

so just as an update:

i bottled the IPA, and 4 days later we cooled one down in the fridge and it was delicious! we got full carbonation and it's already quite clear. just like a beer from the store. Brew House kits rock!! i can't wait to get another one

we even used twist top glass bottles despite what everyone says. i live in Canada so the bottles are thicker. the seal could be tighter, but it works perfect. no bottle bombs

i cant even imagine how good this will be in a month or two.
HBT rocks!

sounds great. don't wait too long to drink them - IPA's are best consumed in the first few months. The hops will start to fade after a while.