Fermentation Restarted

Hi all,

I'm brewing a nut brown ale, and it has been in primary for ten days now. I planned on bottling tomorrow (its the last day I can since I'm leaving the country for a month on Weds), but it seems like the fermentation has restarted.

The initial fermentation only went for about 2 days strong, then tapered off for another day and has been pretty dormant since then. No bubbling or anything. It just started going again this morning, and I'm worried about bottling and having some explosions. I dont have a hydrometer to test whether it actually ever stopped (I know, rookie mistake). Any suggestions or tips?

Thanks

bottle it when you get back!




"Patience is the companion of wisdom."
-- Saint Augustine

Your better off leaving it in the primary for a month.

Will leaving it in there for almost a month and a half cause some off flavors to form from the yeast?

BrokenTooth said:

Will leaving it in there for almost a month and a half cause some off flavors to form from the yeast?

Click to expand...

I would leave it until you get back, and stop by somewhere and get you a hydrometer on the way home I think it will be fine

BrokenTooth said:

Will leaving it in there for almost a month and a half cause some off flavors to form from the yeast?

Click to expand...

My LHBS guy said the second bubbles slow down to rack to secondary, and the second you see no bubbles you have to bottle. His reasons? He said you gotta get it off the trub asap, and if you wait too long in secondary there is no yeast left in the beer to carb.

He of course is an idiot. How do I know? Because I read the hell out of these forums, and in fact John Palmer talks somewhat about extended fermentation times, even in primary, and how it's not really bad afterall.

I think what he's really saying is that at our level of expertise, what minute flavors the trub might impart on our beer after 3-5 weeks in primary is not going to be noticable.

Why don't you rack it to a secondary and let it clear up a bit? That way it's off the trub, and you're g2g for a month. From what I've read that might be the perfect time to do secondary, since you'll be forced to let it age properly. Anyone else think this is a good idea?

I was thinking about racking it to the secondary as well, but was wary since it is apparently fermenting again. Could this cause any unwanted side-effects?

Don't bother racking. People on here will chime in, but I have left beer in the primary for 2 months with no problems. Autolysis is an extremely noticeable effect (the smell is disgusting) and there is growing evidence that it is an extremely unlikely phenomenon on the homebrewing scale. Leave it. It will be fine.

Leave it be. With all of the extra time that we just saved you, brew another!