is it stuck fermenting?

[calman]

My 6 days old primary ale had almost no airlock activity and I racked to secondary. OG was 1.052, SG at the racking time is 1.020. After the racking, there is no bubbles at all in secondary carboy! Is it stuck? If so what should I do?
It is pale ale with WLP002 English Ale yeast. Thanks.

 

[todd_k]

there shouldn't be any airlock activity in the secondary. fermentation should have been completed in the primary, then you rack to the secondary. There may have been a little activity right after the transfer since some of the trub would get mixed up again but there shouldn't have been much.

I only use an airlock for the primary and just have a carboy cap for the secondary.

 

[calman]

there shouldn't be any airlock activity in the secondary. fermentation should have been completed in the primary, then you rack to the secondary. There may have been a little activity right after the transfer since some of the trub would get mixed up again but there shouldn't have been much.

I only use an airlock for the primary and just have a carboy cap for the secondary.

But if the fermentation is not done, it should be continuing in secondary, right?

 

[SteveM]

It will continue, but very slowly. Let the yeast do their thing, they won't let you down. Trying to tinker and intervene is more likely to create problems than simply sitting back, relaxing and having a brew.

 

[david_42]

1.020 is a bit high for a pale, but let it sit for two weeks and check it again. If it was fermented near the low end of the temperature range for the yeast, try warming the secondary to the high end of the range. I've had ales where the gravity will hit 1.020 quickly and then take a month or more to hit the target.

 

[Somerville]

It sounds like your doing everything right. You don't need to worry about fermentation in the secondary...afterall, that is one reason why you would rack it over--to get the beer off the idle trub.

 

[Shambolic]

I have no idea how to reply, because you haven't told us what is in the brew.
If you added 3kg of unfermentable corn syrup, then a final gravity of 1.020 is very low...

 

[brackbrew]

Being an inner-city teacher, my kids will probably tell me to "chillax." I believe this is one of those "Relax. Don't worry. Have a Homebrew." moments. 1.020 is a little high for a pale ale, but let it condition and mellow in the secondary for a week or so and check again. Once I rack to the secondary, I usually let my beers sit for AT LEAST 2 weeks, just to make sure fermentation is complete, let alone for clearing or flavor-conditioning.