I thought it was done fermenting?

[beerguy2009]

I have been having trouble with diacytal in my beer so I checked the pumpkin ale I have had in the fermenter for the last 2 1/2 weeks by taking the 3 piece airlock off the bucket and getting a sample. In the past I have never checked the wort until I am ready to bottle and have usually bottled beer 2 to 3 weeks after I brewed.
So I put the airlock back on and the next day the airlock had bubbles and the piece inside was raised to the top of the airlock. So is it still fermenting? I still detected diacytel when I sampled by the way.

 

[Revvy]

Have you taken a gravity reading?

More than likely it is bubbling, because you opened and closed the airlock....

 

[beerguy2009]

Gravity was 1.010
There was no sign of anything when I put the airlock back on. It wasn't until the next day when I noticed the airlock had pushed the inside piece to the top. I was surprised to see that. I figured it would have just been sitting there but it wasn't. I was hoping something was happening to get rid of the diacytel.

 

[Bheher]

Many times when you take a sample to get a gravity reading, you will see bubbles after you put the airlock back on. These have nothing to do with fermentation, they occur because when you disturb the beer it causes co2 to rise to the surface. If you are reading 1.01 after 2 or 3 weeks you are probably finished with fermentation but it is a good practice to take a reading after a day or two to confirm this.

 

[skyebrewing]

I had a problem with diacetyl that got progressively worse. Turned out to be a pedio infection in one pf my plastic buckets. If you have more than one, switch buckets and see if problem goes away.
If you dont have a spare, just buy a new bucket. They are cheap and better than tossing infected beer.

 

[beerguy2009]

Other than the buttery smell from diacytel, what are the other signs that there is a pedio infection?

 

[skyebrewing]

Im not sure all the signs but mine had a slightly sour taste and butter that got progressively worse over time (each batch and subsequent batches). Pitching rates and temps good. Only happened in a specific bucket (my other two, butter free, same yeast). Searched pedio infections and found diacetyl a big byproduct of pedio.
New bucket, no problems after that.