Start and Stop fermenation

Hey all,

I have a Cherry Stout that I'm currently brewing/getting ready to bottle (why I chose to brew a stout near summer is a different topic altogether). Brew day went fine, initial fermentation looked good, ~2 weeks following primary fermenter I transferred to a secondary. At this point there appeared to be no active fermentation taking place. Let the brew sit in the secondary fermenter ~4 weeks. Was looking forward to bottling it today, and when I went to grab the fermenter I noticed the stinkin thing was bubblin' pretty good. Now here is my hypothesis (feel free to give your own): up here in WI we had a recent hot period. My brew ferments in the basement where it stays ~65-70 degrees (F). Is it possible the warmer weather caused the basement to heat up enough to "wake up" the yeast enough to start fermentation back up? I'm just a little confused, as I haven't seen this before. I'm just going to let it be for a couple days to see what happens before I bottle it. Any questions, comments, or criticisms are welcomed.

Cheers.

Have you taken a hydro reading? It could be simply off gassing, or indeed it did kick up again, but you won't know, and can't surmise, simply by going by the airlock. It's not a fermentation gauge, it's a valve.

Take a reading then take one in another day.

Is there krausen on the beer? What is the gravity? My guess is the beer is just off-gassing CO2 due to the change in temperature. Warmer beer lets go of CO2 much easier than cold beer.

Yeah, I contemplated off gassing, but didn't think that the basement had gotten that much warmer for that to happen. There is some head forming on the beer, I don't necessarily think it's krausen, it just looks like the head you get after pouring a beer/soda. I would be willing to bet the beer is off-gassing, as you all suggested.

KingC said:

Yeah, I contemplated off gassing, but didn't think that the basement had gotten that much warmer for that to happen. There is some head forming on the beer, I don't necessarily think it's krausen, it just looks like the head you get after pouring a beer/soda. I would be willing to bet the beer is off-gassing, as you all suggested. I did take a quick gravity reading: ~1.40

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You mean 1.040, right? If that's the case and you have stuff forming on top, then I'm betting it started up again. Either way, 1.040 means it isn't done yet.

Nope....gravity was ~1.020....maybe I should stop drinking my older homebrews and learn how to read my hydrometer/type.