Still Fermenting?

[Jonesy1979]

After fermenting in my primary for 7 days, I racked into my secondary. I had a small krausen form on top which settled within a day. The wort has now been in the secondary for 4 days and I still have small bubbles rising to the top enough to bubble the airlock... Temp has been average of 72 the entire time....Is this normal to go on this long or may I have an issue? Just curious.

 

[ArcaneXor]

Did you take a hydrometer reading when you transferred? Next, I would like to ask what your motivation was for moving the beer that early. Doing this has a tendency to cause off-flavors such as diacetyl and acetaldehyde, and can cause the beer to underattenuate.

 

[duboman]

After fermenting in my primary for 7 days, I racked into my secondary. I had a small krausen form on top which settled within a day. The wort has now been in the secondary for 4 days and I still have small bubbles rising to the top enough to bubble the airlock... Temp has been average of 72 the entire time....Is this normal to go on this long or may I have an issue? Just curious.

It sounds as though you racked too early. Did you verify stale and finished gravity before transfer?

Regardless now, I would keep it where it is now for at least 2 weeks then take a reading.

BTW, 72 is a little warm, most ales prefer mid 60's

 

[helibrewer]

You probably did not need to move it to a secondary but I wouldn't worry about it. In fact, this is common practice in German brewing since the purity law forbids adding CO2 from sources other than fermentation. They rack to a secondary vessel at a point after high krausen and actually seal the fermentor using the CO2 generated to carbonate the beer.

72F is a bit high but at that temp I wouldn't be surprised that you are only a few points from FG in 7 days.

 

[NorthRiverS]

I just bottled a Porter that was still bubbling at 34 days. The gravity has been stable for two weeks, but I couldn't bottle it because I was out of town. Use your hydrometer to tell you when it's done.

NRS