My Pale Ale continues to ferment

I boiled my wort on November 18...

8 days later I moved to secondery because there was no activity...

3 days later I had to remove the arilock and install a blow-off tube because the fermentation was so vigorous...

and 2 days ago, I removed it because there was only a 1/4 inch of krausen at the top of the bottle and put a carboy cap with an airlock instead of a stopper to add some more distance between the foam and the airlock.

This Sunday will be the 4-week anniversary of my boil, and I am still seeing bubbles rising in the carboy! I was hoping to bottle this weekend or next, but I dont think thats going to happen!

Has anyone seen this before? WHats the deal?

-I

Strange! What is the og and the sg now?

The deal is you CANNOT go by airlock activity. You should be checking your gravity BEFORE racking to secondary. Fermentation was not nearly done and you racked the beer off of most of your yeast. Your beer might turn out fine but in the future, pleeeaaase use a hydrometer. I'm gonna go murder some airlocks, 'scuze me...

I would just let it keep going on its own. Better a long fermentation than a stuck fermentation.

Best advice is exercise patience and let it do it's thing.

jzal8 said:

I would just let it keep going on its own. Better a long fermentation than a stuck fermentation.

Best advice is exercise patience and let it do it's thing.

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But bubbles rising in the carboy could just be co2 coming out of solution. It might be totally done. The only way to know is to take a gravity reading.

YooperBrew said:

The only way to know is to take a gravity reading.

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This is true

I checked the hydrometer reading two days in a row before I racked. It was stuck at 1.017, so I figured that was it. OG was 1.040. Anyway, I racked because the readings werent fluctuating...I wasnt going by airlock activity.

I think what I should have done, in retrospect, was mixed it up a little and try to get the yeast active again because the action of racking woke the yeast up (IMO)...you live you learn.

I haven't taken a gravity reading again since racking...I want to let it do it's thing. I was just wondering if anyone has experienced this before.

-I

YooperBrew said:

But bubbles rising in the carboy could just be co2 coming out of solution. It might be totally done. The only way to know is to take a gravity reading.

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What does "co2 coming out of solution" mean?

In most pics I have seen online, the beer in secondery has a consistent look:
dark at the top, light at the bottom, clear, and no foam on the top.

Mine has a thin layer of white at the bottom, the rest is a consistent cloudy light color, and the top still has foam.

Maybe I should take a gravity reading tonight...

Sure, I have "blurping" going on almost all the time. It slows way down, but doesn't really stop. Usually my wines don't have much airlock activity, but that's because they are there longer term, and most of the co2 has come out of solution over the course of a few months. But anytime I rack, I get some bubbling afterwards. Especially there are some temperature or weather changes.

co2 coming out of solution means just that- the dissolved co2 in the beer will occasionally rise to the top and come out of the beer.

The reason your beer isn't clear was because it hasn't had time to clear yet. It was actively fermenting in the clearing tank, so just hasn't cleared yet. It's probably about done fermenting (you'll know if you take a sg) and then it'll clear.

Took a reading today... 1.010!! Finally!! I'm going to let it sit until next week and bottle it.

I took a sip and it was pretty nasty. This is normal, right? Is that the "green" taste?

At least it smells like beer...

Excellent, 1.010 is a good sign. Waiting another week is even better. You could probably brew into your primary fermenter this weekend, cause your secondary is probably going to be empty next week.

Was it a porter you decided?

Yeah...the porter is ready to go. I'll probably do it next weekend.
That nasty taste is normal, right?

-I

Same with mt APA...check this out:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=30059

IvanTheTerrible said:

That nasty taste is normal, right?

-I

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I am not worried, the color was beautiful before the ferment re-started. It should turn out fine.

Bad news...

I tasted my brew on Saturday after waiting 3 weeks. I took a full, satisfying, thirst-quenching gulp. Like the first gulp you take when you go to a bar.

I almost died! It was horrible. It smelled like beer, but tasted horrific...there was no sign of beer ANYWAHERE in the taste. I'm not sure how to describe it, to be honest. It was carbonated...made a nice sound when I opened it. I poured it out slowly to not disturb the yeast so it didnt really have a head. COlor looked good. All signs were pointing towards victory, until I tasted it... Please help!

IvanTheTerrible said:

Bad news...

I tasted my brew on Saturday after waiting 3 weeks. I took a full, satisfying, thirst-quenching gulp. Like the first gulp you take when you go to a bar.

I almost died! It was horrible. It smelled like beer, but tasted horrific...there was no sign of beer ANYWAHERE in the taste. I'm not sure how to describe it, to be honest. It was carbonated...made a nice sound when I opened it. I poured it out slowly to not disturb the yeast so it didnt really have a head. COlor looked good. All signs were pointing towards victory, until I tasted it... Please help!

Click to expand...

The first place I always look in this situation is the thermometer. What were your fermentation temps?

do your best to describe the taste and people will be able to help you figure out what went wrong.

The fermentation temps were a very steady 69-70 degrees.

The taste was bad.

I guess it tasted like the wort smelled when it was boiling, if that makes sense. It made my taste-buds go nuts...i would imagine licking sand-paper would give me a similar reaction. I think it was really bitter? This is the best I can do while at work. I'll crack one open tonight if this isnt enough in the name of science and try to describe it better.

From what I have read, these are the only culprits I could think of... but I'll let the experts chime in.

1. I steeped the grains in step one either too long, or the temp was too high (although to my defense I thought I followed the directions well and maintained that pre-boil temp, which escapes me right now but I have it written down)

2. Krausen affected the beer (but I have to say I doubt that because before I got that really active, violent fermentation, it already had that weird taste)

I thought all along it was the "green" taste everybody talks about, but I realize now that it has been there all along. I also think back to the smell in my house. Everybody talks about the great smell, and mine didnt smell that great, so I wonder if I screwed up in step 1 when steeping the grains.

Ball's in your court, pros!
-I

I havent given up...I will make my porter!

How long did you steep, at what temps, and what was your recipe? What yeast did you use?

I'd say give it more time, it might come around.

Between 150 and 165 degrees for 30 minutes.

The kit included:
3.3 lbs Muntons Hopped Light Malt Extract
2 lbs Muntons Light Dried Malt Extract
6 oz Crystal Malt Grains (2 row barley)
1 oz Cascade Hop Pellets
Muntons Ale Yeast
5 oz Priming Sugar
Steeping bag

Dont worry...im not throwing it out yet...

How long did you boil the hops? I am curious what your IBU level is since you used hopped extract.

Hops boiled for 1 hour...dropped them in right after the hot break.

These are the detailed instructions I printed for myself that morning, which I followed to the T.

STEP 1A
Sanitize everything

STEP 1B
Bring 3 Gallons of water to a boil and pour into sanitized bucket. Lay cover over without sealing to prevent contamination.

STEP 2
Rehydrate Yeast. Let boiled water cool to 90 degrees, pour yeast in and cover with saran wrap. If needed, pour a tablespoon of boiled extract in to test yeast. Should begin bubbling within 1/2 hour

STEP 2B
Heat up 2 gallons of water to 150 degrees. Steep grains between 150 and 1605 degrees for 30 minutes.

STEP 3
Remove bag from pot and bring to a boil. Once boiling, remove from heat.

In a seperate pot, place can of extract in hot water to soften. Remove label if possible.

STEP 4
Mix in malt extract (liquid and dry). Stir so that it doesnt stick to the bottom.

Watch for boil-overs. Stir occasionally.

NOTE: THE WORT WILL CONTINUE TO FOAM UNTIL THE PROTEINS SINK TO THE BOTTOM AND SMALLER PARTICLES ARE LEFT FLOATING. THIS IS THE HOT BREAK.

STEP 5
Once the hotbreak occurs, add hops. (KEEP SOME FOR FINAL 15min) Stir so they are all wet. Begin timing the hour. Stir occasionally to prevent scorching

STEP 6
Cool wort. Must cool to 80 degrees within 1/2 hour

STEP 7
Pour into bucket and top off with extra water to complete 5 gallons

STEP 8
Check Gravity. Cover and airlock. Check gravity in 6-7 days.

did you put all of the hops in for the full hour? Those instructions are really vague when it comes to hops. The term "some" doesn't instill me with much confidence on the person who wrote them.

The beer instructions said to pour them all in for an hour.

I decided to pour about 3/4 in for the hour, and the last 1/4 in the last 15 minutes. The packet was small...it wasnt that much to begin with, but thats what I did.

Anyone? Any feedback would be amazing.
-I

the best advice I can give you is to give it tons of time. Hoppy beers (like pale ales) take quite some time to mellow.

It sounds like you did everything right to me. One ounce of Cascade is not really that much. I usually use two in a 5 gallon batch. It should have a citrusy kind of grapefruit taste to it using Cascade.