Fermentation fired up in the secondary?

HI all, I have a question about the fermentation of one of my beers. I brewed a pumpkin porter on 10/21/06. About ten days into the fermentation the acivity began to subside. There was enough of a sediment bed on the bottom to warrant a transfer. After transfering the beer, the fermentation began to increase again. As of today it is bubbling away like mad. I saw this as a red flag that something else may be fermenting my beer. The o.g on this beer is 1.070 (yes, a biggie). The reading I got today was 1.030.
Tyically this beer finishes at around 1.018. I tasted it and it was hard to tell if anything was wrong with it. It just tasted a little green. I let a few other people taste it, and they thought it was good as well. I still think something may be amiss, I guess I will just have to wait and see. One of my homebrew buds said that sometimes the addition of things such as pumkin can cause these delayed reactions.
Has anyone else experienced this?
here is the recipe:


24 lbs. 2 row barley malt
1.5 lbs. 2 row Munich 9.0L
1 lbs. Crystal 120 L
.025 lbs. black patent 500L
1 lbs. Chocolate 450-500L
2 oz. Fuggle hop pellet
1 wlp011 Euro Ale Yeast
1 vanilla bean
2 cinnamon sticks
1 tsp. All spice
1 tsp. nutmeg
1.5 tsp. clove
1 tsp. fresh grated ginger root.
1 white pumpkin (5-8 lbs) baked and bagged. Last 30 minutes of boil.

What you're experiencing is completely normal. There are still plenty of fermentables left in your beer, and the agitation from racking roused the yeast a bit. A bit of increased activity after racking is quite common, and it's probably a good thing for you since your beer still has a bit of fermenting to do.

I'm still worried, it has been a couple of days and the activity is the same. Full on fermentation, bubbling every 15 seconds.

It just wasn't done. It happened to me on my last batch but mine waiting until 14 days in the secondary before it awoke. Just let it go until it stops.

I am on day 27

Unless your SG is significantly lower than your usual FG I wouldn't worry about it. How does it smell/taste?

seansbrew said:

I am on day 27

Click to expand...

It's a big beer with even bigger fermentation. I would just wait it out and keep an eye on the SG.

anthrobe said:

It's a big beer with even bigger fermentation. I would just wait it out and keep an eye on the SG.

Click to expand...

It was hard to tell whether it tasted good or not. The spices I put in it usually take a month to mellow out; so it is over powered by that at the moment. I did percevie an ever so slight acidic taste (that's why I got worried), but it's really to early to tell. With my annual Winter welcome party only three weeks away, it is going to come down to the wire as to wether I can brew another beer to replace this one (if this one is indeed bad).

dantodd said:

Unless your SG is significantly lower than your usual FG I wouldn't worry about it. How does it smell/taste?

Click to expand...

It was hard to tell whether it tasted good or not. The spices I put in it usually take a month to mellow out; so it is over powered by that at the moment. I did percevie an ever so slight acidic taste (that's why I got worried), but it's really to early to tell. With my annual Winter welcome party only three weeks away, it is going to come down to the wire as to wether I can brew another beer to replace this one (if this one is indeed bad).

Well, you can always brew a backup batch regardless. Never heard to too rich, too thin or too much beer (in the fridge anyway)

Update: The beer is good, I repeat the beer is good. I talked to a few knowledgable brewers about what I thought might be a problem. I was told that fruit and vege's in your beer can cause unpredictable fermentations. I am so used to a nice smooth fermentation that this beer had me second guessing.
It has been in the keg for over a week, I am trying really hard not to drink it.

Congrats! Good to hear all is well.

seansbrew said:

Update: The beer is good, I repeat the beer is good. I talked to a few knowledgable brewers about what I thought might be a problem. I was told that fruit and vege's in your beer can cause unpredictable fermentations. I am so used to a nice smooth fermentation that this beer had me second guessing.
It has been in the keg for over a week, I am trying really hard not to drink it.

Click to expand...

Well, don't just sit there and talk about it, share!!

Sean, sounds good!

(Where in Mesa do you live? I'm moving from Tempe to the Alma School/Main area in a week. I also work at the {Tempe} LHBS, if you want to come in and visit.)

steve