Secondary forming bubbles/foam

[rnobrew]

A week ago I racked my beer into a secondary after fermenting in the primary for two weeks. The top of the beer began to show small signs of bubbles. I thought nothing of this until this morning when I noticed that there were plenty more. It looks like the top of the beer in my secondary is forming a bit of foam. I am certain that there is no air getting into the secondary. Is this a bad sign? Is this normal? Is it still fermenting? Is this CO2? Or does this mean my beer is going to be awesome?

 

[fatnoah]

What kind of beer is it? What was the OG? What was the gravity when you racked it? Depending on those answers it could be that it wasn't totally done fermenting when you racked it and you roused the yeast and they are going after the remaining sugars.

 

[stonebrewer]

I don't secondary in a carboy that often anymore, however in the past I always noticed signs of continued fermentation like what you are seeing...and yes your beer is going to be awesome!

 

[Hopper5000]

Look up Pellicle and beer on google and take a look at the images. Does it look like that? If so then it may be infected.

Do you know what you gravity was before you racked? It's also possible the beer wasn't done yet and it's just fermenting again.

Pics would help...

 

[rnobrew]

Look up Pellicle and beer on google and take a look at the images. Does it look like that? If so then it may be infected.

Do you know what you gravity was before you racked? It's also possible the beer wasn't done yet and it's just fermenting again.

Pics would help...

It definitely does not look like the pics I just googled. That would of had me concerned me! The bubbles look more like head to a beer that i had poured, but not as frothy. I'll post some pics later. Thanks for the info!

 

[Hopper5000]

You are probaly fine then and I didn't mean to freak you out (sorry I made you look at thta because it's gross too, lol). If it's been warming up where you are secondarying then it might just be CO2 being released.

 

[rnobrew]

What kind of beer is it? What was the OG? What was the gravity when you racked it? Depending on those answers it could be that it wasn't totally done fermenting when you racked it and you roused the yeast and they are going after the remaining sugars.

The beer is a brown ale. It specifically the Caribou Slobber extract kit from Northern Brewer. I'm new to home brewing and this happens to be my second batch...so I didn't take any readings of my beer before racking it. I fermented it in the primary for two weeks and saw the the krausen had fallen into the beer. Everything I've read said that the beer would be done fermenting when that happens. Hope I didn't misinterpret anything.

 

[Upthewazzu]

I've put all four of my beers in a secondary and all four of them have developed some level of "head" and/or off-gassing right after being transferred, the Kolsch especially.

 

[rnobrew]

You are probaly fine then and I didn't mean to freak you out (sorry I made you look at thta because it's gross too, lol). If it's been warming up where you are secondarying then it might just be CO2 being released.

Thanks for the info! Last night I remember moving my secondary and saw the the debris at the bottom had been disturbed when I moved it. I guess that could have caused it too?

 

[stonebrewer]

Thanks for the info! Last night I remember moving my secondary and saw the the debris at the bottom had been disturbed when I moved it. I guess that could have caused it too?

Yep. You stirred up the yeasts and once they get into suspension, they tend to eat again before floc'ing to the bottom again. A brown ale will probably have residual sugars for the yeast to munch on, depending on your pitch rate and a number of other factors. You probably want to start taking gravity readings until you get comfortable with your recipes (even then, I recommend doing them). This will tell you a lot about what is going on with your fermentation and it has a definite affect on the beer's taste. Best of luck!

 

[fatnoah]

My guess is that it is just a little extra fermentation going on. I'd probably wait until the "head" goes away before I bottled. In the meantime get yourself a hydrometer. If you are sticking with this hobby you'll want one sooner rather than later. Congrats on the 2nd brew.