12 days later and still rolling?

[Ward Chillington]

What am I seeing here? I'm wondering why I still have activity in my blonde ale almost 2 weeks later. My OG was low in my opinion 1038, I pitched with 2 packets rehydrated Safale S05...maybe a little overkill for a 6 1/2 gallon batch in the fermenter which I have hovering in my chamber at 66° F. Checking things out this morning I noticed that my off gassing had finally simmered down, my krausen was gone except for some small bubble islands but I was still seeing rolling yeasties floating up to the top of the carboy. It wasn't full blown snow globe or anything but it was still going but no real off gassing much to my surprise!

What's going on here folks?

 

[Bubba Wade]

Probably just a small amount of fermentation still going on. The yeast are probably eating the small amount of residual sugars and some of the other byproduct. My last batch of Belgian ale was still a little bit active after 3 weeks.

 

[BOB357]

Wow! I can't remember the last time I had active fermentation last more than 4 or 5 days. US-05 can be a bit strange though. I always kept a packet in my yeast fridge for emergencies. No emergencies since I started using Mangrove Jack's almost exclusively.

 

[J A]

Very likely off-gassing due to temperature rise. Even after fermentation is completely done, there's a certain amount of CO2 in suspension. As the yeast starts to drop out, it'll clump up. When the CO2 has a chance to come out of suspension with the slightest temp rise, it'll nucleate on the nearest yeast clump and bouy it up toward the top.
SG tells the story. Once it stabilizes, the beer is done...no matter how many bubbles you might see.

 

[HighVoltageMan!]

JA may be right, if you fermented cold and it’s just degassing after being warmed. The bad news is it may be an infection, they will go on a long time if bacteria got a hold. Check to see how it smells and tastes. If it’s good than it just a long fermentation.