Untimely Second fermentation

[Seung]

Hi,

I am totally a beginner. What happened was that for getting rid of sediments, I did transfer the solution to the secondary fermenter from the first one in the middle of active fermentation which was constant bubbling coming out. Now, even in the secondary fermenter, bubble is still active.

What is happening now with my beer? Is it ok or has some danger?

 

[Pie_Man]

Your beer is continuing to ferment. There was likely a lot of yeast in suspension when transferred.

Your beer is going to be fine, but for future beers, it's advisable to wait until fermentation is completed before transferring to the secondary.

Transferring to the secondary too early can cause your beer to be under attenuated (comes across as cloying, too sweet, too much residual sugar, thick) or can cause diacetyl. Diacetyl is a flavor compound that can taste buttery (usually artifical butter), butterscotch, nutty, or caramel like and often leaves a slight slickness on the tongue. Yeast create diacetyl during fermentation and then clean it up towards the end of fermentation. Ideally you want a lot of yeast cells remaining to clean up the diacetly. Many homebrewers skip the secondary and simply let there beer clear up on the primary yeast. The sediment will precipitate faster by cold crashing the beer.

Anyway, I'm not trying to freak you out, your beer is likely totatlly fine. It's a great sign that fermentation is contuniung. I'm just trying to inform you of the risks associated with transferring too early.

 

[Shakybones]

Your beer will be just fine. If you still have active fermentation, then you have plenty of yeast left to clean up. The yeast you left behind weren't in suspension and wouldn't have been doing any work anyway.

 

[Seung]

Thank u guys!

But the bubbles of the first fermenter were coming out with some brown sediments; now they pure bubbles.

Another question:
How do I know whether my beer is contaminated or not during the fermentation.

 

[trekie86]

Thank u guys!

But the bubbles of the first fermenter were coming out with some brown sediments; now they pure bubbles.

Another question:
How do I know whether my beer is contaminated or not during the fermentation.

It's usually hard to tell when the krausen is on top but fungus or mold will typically form on the surface. If you have some blow out during high krausen, either put in a blow out tube or just clean the airlock, around the carboy or lid hole, and bung with sanitizer and put it back in. You shouldn't have to clean the surface during active fermentation unless you develop something really nasty. If it's really nasty, you might have to pitch it.

 

[Pie_Man]

Thank u guys!

But the bubbles of the first fermenter were coming out with some brown sediments; now they pure bubbles.

Another question:
How do I know whether my beer is contaminated or not during the fermentation.

The brown bits are probably just hop debris, clumped up yeast, and/or cold break material (protiens). As the previous poster mentioned, a blow off tube (basically a giant airlock, search the forum for more info) will prevent the fermentation debris from entering your airlock.

Fermentation looks weird, I doubt your beer is injected. Look at the "post your infection here" thread to see what actual infections look like.

 

[Homercidal]

When the beer is fermenting strong and hard, you get a lot of solid particles that come up with the bubbles. As the fermentation slows, those particles tend to settle to teh bottom of the fermentor instead of coming to the top.

What you are seeing is perfectly normal. I highly doubt there is anything wrong with your beer as long as you were sanitary with your fermentors and racking.

Relax, and have a homebrew! (Or something else if you don't have any homebrew ready yet...)