Fermentation started . . . again.

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rumham

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So this is my first brew--Autumn Amber extract kit from Midwest--and so far so good. I brewed it on 9/14, OG 1.048. Fermentation kicked off about 4-5 hours after pitching, but never really seemed too vigorous (I know, the airlock isn't a good indicator. . . ) Anyway, I let it sit until 10/4 and checked the gravity again, SG ~1.014 (only two points shy of my target FG). So I figured I'd let it sit another week and it'd probably be good to bottle.

I moved it to the kitchen last night (from a pseudo swamp cooler) for bottling this week. Tonight I was sanitizing bottles and noticed the airlock bubbling. I was pretty surprised since I hadn't really seen that since week two. So I cracked the lid to take another gravity reading (1.013), and it would appear a new krausen has begun to form. Clearly, moving the fermentor to a warmer environment (perhaps coupled with the light agitation) got fermentation going again. So my question is this: after it finally subsides (as evidenced by equal SG readings a few days apart), should I give it another week or two for the yeasts to clean up, or go ahead an bottle? I'd like to free up my fermentor so I can get another brew going.

Thanks in advance for any advice. Apologies to the veterans if this question irritates any of you.
 
Had something slightly similar happen to me yesterday, too. No Krauzen formed though.

I just assumed that it was CO2 escaping from the trub as a result of carrying the fermenter upstairs, into the kitchen and getting warmed up a bit.

Do you have a secondary fermenter you could rack to so you can, monitor it a bit longer and, free up the primary for another batch??
 
Looks like close to 4 weeks in the primary so, unless you were fermenting at lower than the temperature range for your yeast, surely it must be ok to bottle.
 
We got a little bit of a restart when we sent the porter into secondary, but it died down within a day or so. Chalked it up to CO2 coming out of trub, but we're not bottling for a while so no reason to worry about. I'd leave it for a few days and keep your eye on it.
 
So this is my first brew--Autumn Amber extract kit from Midwest--and so far so good. I brewed it on 9/14, OG 1.048. Fermentation kicked off about 4-5 hours after pitching, but never really seemed too vigorous (I know, the airlock isn't a good indicator. . . ) Anyway, I let it sit until 10/4 and checked the gravity again, SG ~1.014 (only two points shy of my target FG). So I figured I'd let it sit another week and it'd probably be good to bottle.

I moved it to the kitchen last night (from a pseudo swamp cooler) for bottling this week. Tonight I was sanitizing bottles and noticed the airlock bubbling. I was pretty surprised since I hadn't really seen that since week two. So I cracked the lid to take another gravity reading (1.013), and it would appear a new krausen has begun to form. Clearly, moving the fermentor to a warmer environment (perhaps coupled with the light agitation) got fermentation going again. So my question is this: after it finally subsides (as evidenced by equal SG readings a few days apart), should I give it another week or two for the yeasts to clean up, or go ahead an bottle? I'd like to free up my fermentor so I can get another brew going.

Thanks in advance for any advice. Apologies to the veterans if this question irritates any of you.

Sounds like you were storing it in a less than ideal temperature for the yeast you were using. By bringing it into your kitchen and room temperature, the yeast fully activated.

edit: i see you also concluded that... did not read far enough.
 
If it is re-forming a krausen, then obviously it's fermenting again, so you don't want to bottle fermenting beer, unless you are planning to use them to assassinate folks.

But if it's at 1.014, I doubt the beer is refermenting. I betcha the airlock is bubbling because you moved the fermenter and kicked some co2 out of the trub, and what you may be seeing on the surface may just be yeast rafts- yeast being buoyed up to the surface from the escaping co2.

I'd keep an eye on it for a couple days. But remember there are other reasons an airlock bubbles and stuff forms on the surface besides being fermentation.
 
rumham said:
So this is my first brew--Autumn Amber extract kit from Midwest--and so far so good. I brewed it on 9/14, OG 1.048. Fermentation kicked off about 4-5 hours after pitching, but never really seemed too vigorous (I know, the airlock isn't a good indicator. . . ) Anyway, I let it sit until 10/4 and checked the gravity again, SG ~1.014 (only two points shy of my target FG). So I figured I'd let it sit another week and it'd probably be good to bottle.

I moved it to the kitchen last night (from a pseudo swamp cooler) for bottling this week. Tonight I was sanitizing bottles and noticed the airlock bubbling. I was pretty surprised since I hadn't really seen that since week two. So I cracked the lid to take another gravity reading (1.013), and it would appear a new krausen has begun to form. Clearly, moving the fermentor to a warmer environment (perhaps coupled with the light agitation) got fermentation going again. So my question is this: after it finally subsides (as evidenced by equal SG readings a few days apart), should I give it another week or two for the yeasts to clean up, or go ahead an bottle? I'd like to free up my fermentor so I can get another brew going.

Thanks in advance for any advice. Apologies to the veterans if this question irritates any of you.

Hey rumham. I just did the same kit from Midwest on Friday night (10/7) that is also my virgin brew!! I have the temp controller probe taped to the side of the primary and it's reading a constant 69 degrees. I haven't noticed any vigorous bubbling and now there isn't any going on (I know it doesn't mean anything). I plan on taking my 1st gravity reading on Saturday, which will be a week, then hopefully transfer into a secondary. It will be interesting to see how yours comes out. I'll keep you updated on my progress also!!
 
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