Hops restarted Ferm or What?

Short Version of Question: Can dry hopping "finished" beer re-activate fermentation?

Long Version:

I made a trash / cleanup brew on Dec 23rd. We did a a precise all grain brew first and had some time left, and the mood just hit us. So we had another homebrew, or two, and just threw some stuff together. Don't ask specifics because I did not keep exact records records. As far as style, I was shooting for: Beer, Kinda Hoppy with some kick.

From memory: I had about 5# assorted 2-row and added around 3# assorted scraps (light crystal, biscuit, aromatic, wheat malts). I mashed at 150 for an hour with one batch sparge, ended up with a little less than 5 Gal so I added a gallon of water, a pound of honey and a pound of light DME and boiled another 15 minutes. An ounce of Citra at 60 min, and another couple ounces of scrap hops trickled in until flame out, then about 1.5 cups of fresh orange zest. Great recipe huh? Sorry, but that's how it went. We did everything but sweep the floor but nothing too crazy.

Anway OG was around 1.058. Dumped the 5+ gallons wort onto a fresh and clean carboy yeastcake (secondary fermenter) of Wyeast 1087 I had emptied earlier that day. This was only second generation use of the yeast and the batch that came off it is really fine, from roughly same gravity wort. So it sprang to life within hours as expected, and it has been in basement at 70ish degrees ever since. I actually did not pay any attention to it until 48 hours ago when I checked it and it was flat, clear, and still and I decided to go to bottle with it this weekend. For SOME REASON I decided to toss in another 1.5 ounces of Citra pellet to clean up that partial bag.

So I went down this AM (48 hours after impulsive dry hops addition) to rack it into my bottling bucket, and the lock was bubbling again. WTF? As you can tell I am not always one for exact procedures and record keeping, but mid gravity wort on a hot ale yeast cake is going to be done in 23 days, or that has always been my experience.

So I took a gravity reading (imagine that) and it was 1.005! And still fermenting! Another WTF moment. I assumed it had stalled high and my shining a flashlight in there woke everybody up, but already 1.005? Anybody have a clue what is going on here? Tastes great actually. Color is a nice deep gold, about 6. I don't feel like there is an infection pulling it down, but maybe?

Don't need a lecture on record keeping or procedures. Been doing this for quite some time. I can be as anal as anybody at times, but sometimes it's fun just to throw stuff together which is what happened here.

More of a Belgian guy and I don't dry hop often, especially 48 hours before I plan to bottle. I think this might actually be pretty tasty if it doesn't end up chewing through the bottom of the carboy. Sorry for the lengthy read, any ideas what's going on here.

Short answer no

I'm thinking the beer is just releasing some Co2 after being roused a bit.

Bensiff said:

Short answer no

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Succinct. I like it.

Yankeehillbrewer said:

I'm thinking the beer is just releasing some Co2 after being roused a bit.

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As good a theory as any, but I did not do much more than drop in a big handfull of hops and replug it. I did not move or jar the c-boy at all. Maybe the chemical activity of the hops addition was enough of a rousing. (?)

Anyway not whining about a problem, it's going to do what it will. I just never had a beer at 005 come back to life, hell I can count on one hand the number of beers I got to 005 intentionally. As it is, I got a 7+ abv that shows promise of good flavor, and can drink through that if necessary. I have friends that can help me through such times.

Just wondered what was going on here and worried that I might have torn a hole in the Universe or something.

Dry hops provide increased surface area which causes CO2 to come out of solution. Occasionally dry hops will even bring some of the yeast back to life for a bit.

Double check the gravity, I'm willing to bet it will still be 1.005 and you did nothing other than provide a nucleation site like Yankee.

SKMO said:

As good a theory as any, but I did not do much more than drop in a big handfull of hops and replug it. I did not move or jar the c-boy at all. Maybe the chemical activity of the hops addition was enough of a rousing. (?)
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That's all it takes....a bubbling airlock is not the same as fermentation.

Your fermentation didn't start, your airlock started bubbling because you opened it up to add your hops and closed it back up. And now it is off gassing the co2 that had built up and then sat undisturbed since you pitched your yeast, or racked it, or did whatever else you did awhile ago.

Guys, airlock bubbling and fermentation are not the same thing. You have to separate that from your mindset. Airlock bubbling can be a sign of fermentation, but not a good one, because the airlock will often blip or not blip for various other reasons...so it is a tenuous connection at best.

If your airlock was bubbling and stopped---It doesn't mean fermentation has stopped.

If you airlock isn't bubbling, it doesn't mean your fermentation hasn't started....

If your airlock starts bubbling, it really doesn't matter.

If your airlock NEVER bubbles, it doesn't mean anything is wrong or right.

Your airlock is not a fermentation gauge, it is a VALVE to release excess co2. If it bubbles it is because it needs to, if it doesn't, it just means it doesn't need too...

Often an airlock will bubble if the fermenter has been disturbed in some way, like a change in temperature, change in atmospheric pressure, the cat brushing against it, or opening it up to take a hydro reading, or dry hopping.

The co2 has sat in stasis for a period of time, then it was disturbed so it is not longer at equilibrium with everything else now. And therefore it is blipping in your airlock...

Like other's have said, you created nucleation sites which makes your airlock bubble.....


nothing else. It's NOT fermentation you are seeing, but what an airlock is supposed to be looked at as, off gassing out of the vent.

Bensiff said:

Double check the gravity, I'm willing to bet it will still be 1.005 and you did nothing other than provide a nucleation site like Yankee.

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+1 for nucleation