stricklandia
Active Member
This seems to be a common issue, but I wanted to post about my specific circumstances to get advice. I brewed a barleywine, and after close to a month in primary (well after specific gravity had leveled off at 1.027), I racked to secondary and dryhopped.
It's been in secondary for about a week, and I just prepped everything for bottling, only to find out that fermentation restarted. I took a gravity reading, and it's at 1.025. I'll wait a couple of days to take another reading to see if it changes, but since it was at 1.027 when I racked, clearly there's activity (it's also bubbling about every 18 seconds).
The temperature in the house is pretty steady at low 70s, but it's been hot the past few days (close to 80 in the house). Would such an increase in ambient temperature be enough to restart fermentation? Seems unusual for it to have restarted after so long. Also, what could happen if I bottle now? Potential bottle bombs? Or would it likely be okay?
After this batch, I might just take a break from brewing until the fall, when it cools off a bit (I'm not interested in upgrading equipment to give myself more temperature control until I have more experience).
It's been in secondary for about a week, and I just prepped everything for bottling, only to find out that fermentation restarted. I took a gravity reading, and it's at 1.025. I'll wait a couple of days to take another reading to see if it changes, but since it was at 1.027 when I racked, clearly there's activity (it's also bubbling about every 18 seconds).
The temperature in the house is pretty steady at low 70s, but it's been hot the past few days (close to 80 in the house). Would such an increase in ambient temperature be enough to restart fermentation? Seems unusual for it to have restarted after so long. Also, what could happen if I bottle now? Potential bottle bombs? Or would it likely be okay?
After this batch, I might just take a break from brewing until the fall, when it cools off a bit (I'm not interested in upgrading equipment to give myself more temperature control until I have more experience).