More Activity Late in Secondary?

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DeRoux's Broux

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Alright gang, I have a question. I have an Imperial Rye IPA in my secondary, and it will be three weeks this Saturday. I checked it last night, and it looks like I have a second fermentation going on in there? About 1/4" of foam below the dry hop level, and visible activity up through the carboy. I don't know if it's from a warm front that backed-up over us earlier this week and it "woke-up" what yeast was left in it, or what. I have a good bit of sediment on the bottom, and it's started to collect on the sides of the carboy too. Should I let it keep going, or should I put it in my keg frig to stop fermentation and force carbonate after a couple days? I know it can't hurt to sit a little longer, but like I said, it's got a good bit of sediment on the bootm. Guess I could rack again to another carboy???? :confused:

DeRoux's Broux
 
It certainly looks alive.

What is your main concern here with the yeast? Since it is already in the secondary I would add some polyclar (to aid in clarity) and let it go for another week or two (at least).

Personally, I would take a hydrometer reading and drink a sample. If the reading is within the range of the brew you are making and the flavor is acceptable (or great!) then you have to decide if you want it to ferment out more or bottle it. tough choice, I know, but I always try to go for the full ferment. :D
 
homebrewer_99 said:
It certainly looks alive.

What is your main concern here with the yeast? Since it is already in the secondary I would add some polyclar (to aid in clarity) and let it go for another week or two (at least).

Personally, I would take a hydrometer reading and drink a sample. If the reading is within the range of the brew you are making and the flavor is acceptable (or great!) then you have to decide if you want it to ferment out more or bottle it. tough choice, I know, but I always try to go for the full ferment. :D

I'm not so much worried about the yeast, but the sediment and the dry hops in the carboy. I'm worried that if I let it sit too much longer, and it keeps "fementing" in the secondary, I might lose a lot of my aroma from the dry hop, and get off flavors from the sediment. I've just never had any of my batches start acting up like this in the secondary. The rye in it will make it cloudy anyway, so clarity isn't really an issue with this one.

Good tips though. Thanks.

DeRoux's Broux
 
t1master said:
does not the imperial styles like a long slow cold secondary ferment? upwards of 3-6 months?

they do, but the "imperial" tag on this one refers more to the hops than being a high gravity brew (at least for this recipe). not much different from a regular IPA as far as FG or ABV. plus, I'M SO IMPATIENT! :p

DeRoux's Broux
 
DeRoux's Broux said:
I'm not so much worried about the yeast, but the sediment and the dry hops in the carboy. I'm worried that if I let it sit too much longer, and it keeps "fementing" in the secondary, I might lose a lot of my aroma from the dry hop, and get off flavors from the sediment. I've just never had any of my batches start acting up like this in the secondary. The rye in it will make it cloudy anyway, so clarity isn't really an issue with this one.

Good tips though. Thanks.

DeRoux's Broux

Somehow, this concern of off flavors from sitting on trub has gained a lot of weight on this forum. Y'all need to stop worring about that one so much. I just kegged a Bitter that, due to lack of fermenter space, sat in the primary for weeks on 4 batches worth of yeast and trub. It's probably the best Bitter I have ever made. This is one of those things that's best to avoid, but it's not something to worry about, and if you don't rack off sediment, it won't be a big deal. It's never a deal killer.

In your case, you're already in the secondary, so there is absolutely nothing to worry about. I bet if you racked half of it to another carboy, let both halves sit for 2 more weeks, then later tasted each after bottling, you couldn't tell a bit of difference.

As far as the hops, I don't think you'll lose much aroma. Heat and light are the enemies of hop aroma more than time. After all, it was going to sit in the bottles for a while, right?

Relax, don't worry, have a homebrew and all that. Leave it in the secondary another week or two as has been said. Everything sounds fine to me.
 
your right. i think it's more me not being patient and just letting it do it's thing. i just need to start another batch to give me something else to do! :D

thanks.
DeRoux's Broux
 
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