restarted fermentation?

I got a bunch of kits for Christmas and did the dark cherry stout from northern brewer. I put it into secondary Saturday (about 6 days ago) and noticed some gurgling last night (I thought it was the dog about to throw up) every now and then. Today I get back home and noticed it again relatively consistently. I found out its the carboy doing the gurgling. It has started fermentation again. I didn't add anything but it has definitely started again. Is it infected? My only assumption is that it took a week because it needed to build up cell counts. Why wouldn't the alcohol have killed off anything? I assumed that I cleaned everything properly, but I could definitely have been mistaken..

The only other thought I have is that I noticed some yeast suspended near the top of the original carboy from brew day. I think when i pitched the yeast (dry, non-rehydrated) some got shaken around and stuck to the upper sides of the carboy.

Also fermentation never seemed to completely subside. Though the airlock wasn't bubbling (at least less than once over a minute or two) there were still a few small bubble patches. It was in primary over two weeks so I really don't know.

What do you guys think? Hopefully its not spoiled...

It seems odd to me that it took six days for this to happen, but I'm a new brewer myself. What was your original gravity and gravity when you racked?

RDWHAHB

Has the temperature risen significantly? That will allow gas to come out of the solution. It's also possible that you roused the yeast while racking it to secondary, causing more fermentation from an incomplete primary fermentation. The only way to know for sure is with a hydrometer reading...remember, an airlock bubbling does not necessarily mean fermentation. An infection is possible, but unlikely if you used sanitizer religiously.

In the future, be sure to sanitize everything, and oxygenate the wort before fermentation. That way you can be sure that the yeast can start up right away and finish strong.

hobomilitia said:

Also fermentation never seemed to completely subside.

Click to expand...

It WILL subside when it is done. It's obviously not done.

RDWHAHB

way ahead of ya.


just wondering if this was normal. imma wait it out regardless. just seemed bizarre.

i never took a hydrometer reading cuz i was in a hurry on brew day and without an original gravity i didnt care enough to check it when i reracked it. i dont have a beer thief so i cant really check it after the fact