Why is my beer re - fermenting

So I have a British IPA (from AHS) in secondary right now. It was in the primary for a little over a week, and I moved it so secondary 2 weeks ago. A day or two after I moved it to the secondary the beer got very dark, it looked like I was making a stout, and since then it has been sitting their with very little activity. However last night the airlock went crazy and the yeast began forming a “krausan layer” (sorry for the misspelling) like it normally would in the primary, however it is a lot smaller. Also the beer is now a light brown! What is this? I haven't taken a hydrometer reading, but I am guessing it still had a little fermenting to go? I was going to bottle tomarrow but i guess i now have to wait.

Thank you in advance!

It sounds like the yeast are not done-- your beer is still fermenting.

The only way to know for sure when fermentation is over is to take hydrometer readings for 2 or 3 days in a row-- if the readings are the same and are near your expected terminal gravity, it's done.

-Steve

My thoughts were the yeasties were not quite finished with their job but decided to take a break. Once in the secondary, the planets alligned and based on the relationship of Aquarius and Orion, swamp gas ignited a weather balloon reflecting the light from venus which instructed the yeasties to execute order 66 on the remaining fermentables.

Wild stuff!

When I brew (which I've only have brewed a few, rhyme not intended), I feel I have all the control of the beer up to the initial pitch. At that point, its all me. However, the moment I dump the vile in, yeasties take the wheel! All I can do is make them comfortable. They will do what ever the heck they want to do, and I'll have no idea. Thats where the PFM occurs!

Enjoy the beer when it finishes!

just the general proceedure of racking to secondary swirls everything and give the yeaast a bit more oxygen and they get a lil more hungry for a bit. No worries

Your observations mean little without gravity readings. What was the OG? What was the gravity when you thought it was done and racked it? And what is the gravity now?

Airlocks bubble for many reasons...one of those reasons is active fermentation...the rest are not.

A temperature change might have re-activated the yeast to complete the fermentation. A couple degrees is all it takes.

david_42 said:

A temperature change might have re-activated the yeast to complete the fermentation. A couple degrees is all it takes.

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That's what I was thinking. Most likely a change in temp. I had a wit in my garage this week pick pack up at 74 degrees. I'm just letting it do its thing.

As everyone pointed out, without temperature or gravity readings, it is difficult for us to guess what is going on. Probably just a change in temperature or rousting the yeast when you racked.

For what it's worth, the AHS British IPA was one of my favorites this year and a big hit with my more beer-inclined friends. Enjoy!