Hi all - I am brewing up a batch of Cream Ale (from extract). I had it in the primary for about three weeks and it was quite active and did the typical calming down after a while - typical good brewing cycle. There was no activity by the end of that period so I moved it to my secondary fermenter. It has been two weeks in the secondary and there is some activity going on that was not present at the end of the primary. There are random bubbles in the air lock ( a few a day gurgling out) and a few patches of bubbles on the surface of the beer - typical of a fermentation cycle...it is not an infection or something else - the beer smells fine. I do see little things (almost like what would be fine trub particles) rising and falling within the beer - so this leads me to think that the primary was never really finished and this activated it.
So, being that activity picked up to a very slow fermentation in the secondary (and I mean very slow) but consistent, what should I do regarding time? Should I wait it out another few weeks before bottling? Is there an issue where something infected the beer? I am new to the secondary thing (but my last IPA turned out great - and that was the first time I used a secondary). My concern is that it is fermenting and since making the transfer, there will be less yeast for bottle conditioning and also that they may stress being too few yeast in the 5 gallon batch within the secondary.
So, being that activity picked up to a very slow fermentation in the secondary (and I mean very slow) but consistent, what should I do regarding time? Should I wait it out another few weeks before bottling? Is there an issue where something infected the beer? I am new to the secondary thing (but my last IPA turned out great - and that was the first time I used a secondary). My concern is that it is fermenting and since making the transfer, there will be less yeast for bottle conditioning and also that they may stress being too few yeast in the 5 gallon batch within the secondary.