Any idea what went wrong with my beer?

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Rick_Head

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I brewed one big 20 gallon batch on May 25th. They all bubbled and finished around the same time. All 4 looked the same last time I looked a week ago. This past Friday it started fermenting again. Here is what they look like after racking to the secondary. This isn't anything fancy, just a regular extract ale. There are no bad odors. Any ideas?

funny beer.jpg
 
Have you taken a gravity, that to me looks like CO2 coming out of suspension, could be because of a temperature change, barometric pressure, someone knocked the carboy....

Take a gravity, if its stable they're done:tank:
 
robbiex0r: All 4 were racked at the same time and sitting on the same table, I'd have expected all 4 to be the same clarity, but this one got all cloudy again and started bubbling on friday which was about 9 days after they all stopped the first time.
 
Did you happen to take a gravity reading before you racked them? It definitely looks like the one has started fermenting again, but its hard to say why. If they weren't finished before you racked them, you probably just stirred up some yeast and they kick started. It could also be an infection, but its not a sure thing by any means. Watch it and test the gravity, see where it finishes up at and taste it along the way, that will tell you if anything is wrong. Also, how much yeast did you add? That might tell you whether they stalled out before you moved them to secondary.

Also, if I'm reading it right the picture is of the beers after moving to secondary? If that's the case, there's an awful lot of headspace in the two on the right. If they're still fermenting, which it looks like the yellow one is, then its not a big deal since the CO2 will move off some of the oxygen and the yeast will soak some more up. If the other one isn't fermenting, though, you've got a good deal of oxygen in that carboy that might lead to some troubles. Just something to keep in mind in case they start to taste off, so you can quickly drink the rest before they go!
 
Thanks erikpete18, I just combined them into 3 carboys so I don't have much head space. The ugly duckling is starting to settle and look a little better. to answer your questions...
the pic was after racking, the gravity on the other 3 was around 1.02 and the one that started fermenting before I racked was at 1.01. I used safbrew dry packets, 1 packet per carboy (they were all similar volumes while in the primary)
 
Boy that seems odd to me. I can certainly see the 1.020 beginning to ferment (I'd think they weren't done. What was the O.G.?), not the 1.010. Did you mean 1.002 on the ones that didn't kick back in?
 
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