Hey all, I’m in the process of brewing a raspberry IPA, and after I racked into secondary onto the raspberries, I never had that secondary fermentation start up again. No real airlock activity to speak of at all.
I used WLP001 California ale yeast with a starter, and racked into a bucket for secondary 1 week later on 3 lbs of raspberries and…silent airlock.
Anything jump out at you guys? Maybe the yeast all flocc’d out and got left behind in the primary fermenter? Any risk that this thing wont bottle carbonate?
For the record: O.G. 1.060, and now (12 days later), 1.010.
That’s what I initially thought, but started to question when most of what I read said that once you add more sugars (raspberry), it should start up again.
If that’s not the case then hey, fine by me!
Thanks, Denny
3 lb of raspberries isn’t adding much sugar (~2 oz). It could have fermented out without you noticing. Did gravity drop after the fruit addition? It wouldn’t be much but it should be measurable.
Ah I see. I didnt know there wasnt that much sugar in that amount of raspberries.
It’s probable, in that case that it fermented out without me noticing because I moved from a carboy to a bucket with obviously a lot more head space.
My rookie self didnt take a gravity measurement before the fruit addition. Will check next time around.
I’d suggest not racking to another bucket unless you’re planning on aging for months. You’ll do a lot more harm by oxidizing the beer unnecessarily than by leaving it on the yeast a few more days.
My rationale was to add the raspberries in a mesh bag to prevent the seeds and stuff from clogging or getting transferred into bottles. Since I can’t cram a bag of raspberries through the carboy mouth, I opted for the bucket for secondary.
A great choice would have been to fermented in the bucket from the beginning. There would have been no need to transfer then. Hop the beer turns out great!
