Smack pack vs dry ferment time

My first 7 batches were with dry yeast....Coopers, Safeale, Nottingham and fermentation in the primary was vigorous and pretty brief and after racking to the secondary, I would get a day of airlock activity and then things would settle down for the two weeks until bottling.

I decided to try an irish red ale, and used a Wyeast Irish Ale smack pack. Fermentation was slow to start in the primary, but finally got going and after 8 days I racked to the secondary. Everything looked OK at racking, but afterwards I've had constant airlock activity for 2 weeks. There are some bubbles on the surface. It smells OK. I guess the next step is a hydrometer reading.

Should I be concerned or just wait another week?

Thanks

Link to photo of secondary below:


http://www.appleisp.net/~tkarlen/images/sec.jpg

I am by no means a pro at this but, I usually wait untill fermentation is done by checking with a hydrometer before transfering to the "clearing tank". I would take a hydrometer reading a couple days in a row, if needed, to see where you are at and then decide what to do. Liquid yeasts, at least the ones I have used seem to take a while to get going and finish. After 3 weeks it should be ready to bottle, but only a hydrometer reading will tell you. I have never done so but making a starter wether its a smack pack or not should cut some of your lag time out. Unless it is fermenting way to cold you "should" be good to go.

hope that helps?

I almost always use liquid yeast. My primaries are almost always done in 10 to 14 days. I recently, accidently, racked one too early and it stalled out. I even repitched and that didn't help. I had to let it sit in the secondary another 3 weeks before it finished fermenting. I was sick of waiting for it, so I bottled instead of giving it extra time to clear.

I even stuck the bottles in my basement shower for 3 weeks, just in case they ended up being bombs.

Liquid yeasts have fewer yeast cells than dry yeast. I think that dry yeast will start sooner and finish faster. But, you can increase the number of cells you pitch be creating a starter (for liquid).

In general it is recommended to take multiple hydrometer readings over a few days and rack to a secondary when the FG is (roughly) reached and it is not changing.

Had a hydrometer reading of about 1.008 at room temp & it tasted OK, so WTH. 3 or 4 weeks will tell whether its a mistake. Just in case, the bottles go into the cellar, as feedthebear suggested.

at 1.008, you don't have to worry about bottle bombs from over-carbonation