Active 2nd Fermentation w/pic

I seem to have an active 2nd fermentation going and would like to know if I should rack into a 3rd fermentation.

Let me know what you think

You apparently racked to secondary before fermentation was finished. Did you take gravity readings before transferring?

There is really no need to rack to secondary at all so I would leave it as is for a total time from brewday of 3-4 weeks then bottle.

Don't worry your beer will be OK.

Quit moving your beer around... WHy do you think you need to move it.

If you have fermentation in secondary, that means more than likely you racked too soon to begin with. You interrupted fermentation in primary and now it's trying to finish, but with less yeast.

Did you take 2 gravity readings to determine that fermentation was finished BEFORE you racked it??

A secondary is for CLEARING...all fermentation should have occurred before you racked it over (unless you did so to add fruit or another fermentables.) If you choose to use one you should make sure fermentation is complete via gravity readings, and also leave it a few days more to let the yeast clean up afteritself.

If I use a secondary, which is rare, since many of us opt for a month long primary instead, then I recommend folks take a grav reading on day 12 and then day 14 before racking....

Moving the beer around unnecessarily can lead to oxidation and a risk of infection. You don't need to keep futzing with it...

Walk away. Now that it's in there, let the beer finish fermenting, and let it clear.....I would just leave it for another 3 weeks and then bottle. But don't keep messing with it.

Why would you think racking it to a tertiary, ESPECIALLY, if ti is obviously still fermenting, accompolish anything...All you keep doing is interrupting the fermentation process...and stressing the yeast...

I moved to secondary because I was following the recipe. Dummy me didn't take a reading. I also had some temp issues with the primary fermentation because the SWMBO likes to keep it cold in the house. The primary had a temp reading of 62 before moving to secondary and placing on a heat mat. So I purchased the warming mat you see in the picture and I think the heat cranked up the fermentation again.

This will be my first batch I keg, I have been bottling for a few years and was tired of the carbonation fluctuations I was getting.

Let it ride till it's finished fermenting this time. Most people don't do the secondary anymore and those that do use it more as a bright tank (clearing tank) or for dry hopping. I wouldn't sweat it this time around and just keg it after it finishes fermenting and hits a stable gravity.

opengun said:

This will be my first batch I keg, I have been bottling for a few years and was tired of the carbonation fluctuations I was getting.

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I betting that you had carbonation fluxes because of issues like this. If you bottle before you reach terminal gravity, much like you transferred to a secondary before you reached terminal gravity, the beer will not only be eating the sugar you added, but the remaining fermentable sugar in your beer, creating wild possibilities in your volumes of carbonation.

How long after you racked that did you take the picture? How long did that foam up last? It doesn't look like a secondary fermetation to me, it looks more like the CO2 that was in solution from your primary fermentation was simply coming out of solution from the racking process.

johnsma22 said:

How long after you racked that did you take the picture? How long did that foam up last? It doesn't look like a secondary fermetation to me, it looks more like the CO2 that was in solution from your primary fermentation was simply coming out of solution from the racking process.

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Look at the darker tan at the top of the neck, that's yeast/krausen. That's like any pic of near blow off fermentation when folks use a carboy, and they're getting a near blowoff. It's darker and thincker looking than the foam lower down. And there's yeast in the blowoff tube as well.

It's fermenting.

AmandaK said:

I betting that you had carbonation fluxes because of issues like this. If you bottle before you reach terminal gravity, much like you transferred to a secondary before you reached terminal gravity, the beer will not only be eating the sugar you added, but the remaining fermentable sugar in your beer, creating wild possibilities in your volumes of carbonation.

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Yep, I think I have bottled some wheats before they were finished now I can't pour them without foam everywhere.

johnsma22 said:

How long after you racked that did you take the picture? How long did that foam up last? It doesn't look like a secondary fermetation to me, it looks more like the CO2 that was in solution from your primary fermentation was simply coming out of solution from the racking process.

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Maybe three days so this would have been day 10 from start.