Did my fermentation stop ??

I have an IPA that sat in primary for almost two weeks and I racked to secondary yesterday. I checked this morning (beer now in a carboy) and its not showing any signs of fermentation. Beer looks completely flat with no krausen at all on top. My primary fermentation was fast and furious. Is it common for fermentation to stall for a few days (or at least appear to stall)?

Sounds like it is doing exactly what it is supposed to. The main, aggressive fermentation is over in 7-10 days usually. Secondary fermentation is not really ore fermentation - at least not in the sense that the yeast are eating sugar. The sugars are usually gone in a week or so. Days 7-21 are more about finishing up any sugars that might be left, the yeast cleaning up other substances in the wort, and allowing yeast and trub to settle out of your beer.
You did well to leave it sit for the 14 days - lots of people get in a hurry and want to transfer it when primary fermentation is still carrying out. Personally, I don't even do secondary - just 21 days in primary and then keg or bottle (depending on style - bigger beers like barley wine or bourbon porter I do secondary. Lots of brewers do it both ways and it is something to experiment with for yourself.

Did you check your SG when you racked to the secondary? Why did you rack to the secondary? Most likely fermentation is done after 2 weeks, but without a gravity reading, we don't know. Get a gravity reading.

Best way to tell if you have a problem is to check your gravity. If your gravity is considerably higher than your target FG, then you may have a problem.

When you put beer into a secondary, it is basically done fermenting, just cleaning up. Secondary fermentation is actually a meaningless step in my opinion for ales. If you want a clear beer, just use irish moss or whirfloc tablets. Saves you transferring your beer to a secondary, which in my mind is just another chance for your beer to come into contact with bacteria or oxygen

Thanks for the replies. All of this is helpful as this is only my second brew I've done. I did take a gravity reading when I racked to secondary and it was 1.020. The problem is that my kit did not give the target ending gravity but I'm guessing it should be lower than 1.020.

I just searched online for Bells two hearted ale clone finishing gravity and it said 1.010. If mine yesterday was at 1.020 is there any chance I hit target ending gravity by leaving it in the fermenter for two more weeks? How big of a deal is it if 1.020 is my final?

unionrdr said:

Either the beer will be a tad sweet,or worse you could get bottle bombs when you prime & bottle it. The left over sugars will be eaten too,making too much co2 in the bottles. So the extra week or so would've given the yeast a chance to finish fermenting to the right FG.

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This. Secondaries are unnecessary unless you're doing long long aging. Otherwise you're taking away a ton of yeast that could do work in primary.

Yeah I will ditch the secondary in my next brew. I tasted it out of the hydrometer test jar and I thought it was pretty good. Maybe it will ferment on down to 1.010 and be right. Much thanks for the input. Love this forum.

I secondary my IPA after 5 weeks for dry hopping with Citra. As those above me have already said, it looks like the yeast didn't get a chance to do their thing. A .1020 in that scenario 'IMO' isn't going to be the best beer ever.