Strangely Long Fermentation - Problem?

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Mileyj

Member
Joined
Feb 1, 2011
Messages
6
Reaction score
0
Location
Greenville
Hey guys about 10 days ago I made a chocolate milk stout and everything has been fine except that the fermentation is still going on. I've never had a fermentation go on for this long (still bubbling right now), and I was wondering if I should go ahead and throw it into a secondary to keep from getting weird flavors off the old yeast and hops.
Of course the other option is I'm just being a paranoid newbie and need to chill out.
 
I vote for the other option :D

Three points:
1) Bubbles do not equal fermentation. Your beer might still be fermenting, and it might just be venting gas. The airlock has no way of knowing the difference. Only your hydrometer can tell you that.

2) Long fermentation curves are typical for certain yeasts in all conditions and for all yeasts in certain conditions. 10 days isn't that long.

3) Your beer won't get weird flavors in the primary. A month or more in primary is well within standard practice.
 
+1 to the above. Try and forget about it and revisit the fermenter in two to three weeks.
 
Seeing activity for that long is not a sign that something has gone wrong. I've definitely had it happen before - as much as 14 days. The real gauge of fermentation progress is gravity readings.

And I would not worry at all about getting weird flavors off the old yeast. Actually one of the worst things you can do is rack to secondary while the beer is still fermenting. Many on this board, including myself, don't even use a secondary, and will primary as long as 4 weeks or even more. If you want to learn more, check out this post (and I know Revvy has several others on this topic) : https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/length-time-primary-secondary-194310/#post2258369
 
Back
Top