Is this suppose to happen? 1st try

[Madcat100]

Ok, I know my methods are not proper but this is my first batch. I have the necessary equipment for future batches now. This is what is going on. First I am making an amber ale from all DME with grain and Munton Dry Yeast. Everything was going fine, beer had sat for 10 days when I decided to rack it off the sediment. I have a 5 gallon glass carboy and what I did was siphon my brew out of the carboy into a sanitized bucket and cleaned the carboy and re-siphoned the beer back into the glass carboy for secondary. The first 4-5 days I didnt notice any activity and the beer was clearing nicely. Then one day I noticed some gnats fly around the bubbler and it was bubbling about 10 times a minute. What is going on? Could a gnat have gotten in and contaminated it? My water level was fine in the airlock. The beer also smells different, not bad just different like wet bread.

Thanks for any advice and suggestions

 

[IFMracin]

So, was the gnat inside the carboy?

 

[Madcat100]

I never actually saw a gnat inside the carboy but a couple were floating in the airlock water

 

[DrinksWellWithOthers]

It's fine. I've got one floating the my apfelwein airlock right now.

 

[Madcat100]

I will add that the bubbling has slowed significantly, still cloudy though. I was wondering if the double transfer oxygenated the beer too much and activated the yeast.

 

[jay4e]

the gnats cant get through any more than other nasties could. The activity could just be the yeast kickin up due to temp change or something similar. do you have a hydrometer? a gravity reading would help you figure this out. the change in smell would be more of a concern than that gnats. but ultimately all you can do is sit back and wait. chances are itll be fine.

two think i would suggest for the future. dont bother racking to a bucket then back. either leave it in the primary or get a dedicated secondary (non spigoted bucket would work fine). your just asking for trouble with the extra steps. and use either cheap vodka (unflavored preferably) or starsan mix in your airlock, rather than just water (if thats what your using).

 

[Madcat100]

Well I have a 6.5 gallon carboy now for Primary and the 5 for secondary. All future batches will not be disturbed as much.

No I do not have a hydrometer, but it is on my to order next list.........

 

[BarleyWater]

I have heard that they are actually attracted to the smells of fermentation. I don't think it's anything to worry about as long as they weren't floating around drinking your beer.

 

[Ecnerwal]

+1 on the bottle of vodka so cheap you're embarrassed to buy it, and would never drink it, as airlock fluid.

 

[IFMracin]

I used StarSan in mine, only issue is that it bubbles out the top vent.

 

[tedski]

+1 on the bottle of vodka so cheap you're embarrassed to buy it, and would never drink it, as airlock fluid.

No bull... I wound up tellin the SWMBO, "ohhh, you're goin to the store? Well, I need a bottle of the cheapest vodka they have on the shelf."

 

[mmb]

I'd recommend in the future just leaving the beer sit instead of racking. The sediment isn't going to hurt the beer... the sediment IS from your beer.

The whole 1-2-3 thing is just to provide a timeline to follow. Leave the beer along for three weeks and then bottle and you should be fine. That gives the yeast extra time to clean up after themselves. They are messy buggers and off put quite a few compounds that you really want them to clean up after the active fermentation finishes.