Active fermentation after moving fermenter?

[Deanomite]

Okay another newbie post. Working on my very first batch of beer. I chose this recipe to start with Moctoberfest V2.8 from Jeremiah White. I brewed it on 11/28/21. It has been in my 7.9 gal fastferment conical in my house at about 68 degrees Fahrenheit since brew day. Fermentation started of slow on the first day and then took off for a few days and then trailed off.

Today I moved it from the floor in my house to a table in my heated garage. I was planing on bottling tomorrow but I am seeing some activity in the air lock. It was not bubbling much in my house at all for the last week or so and now in the garage it seems pretty active. I get a bubble every couple seconds.

In full disclosure, I have not taken any gravity readings since brew day. I assumed if I waited for the activity in the air lock to drop off I would be good? I just did not want to open up the fermenter and risk contamination. Did I mention I am a newbie? ;-)

Questions:
1. Why would I see activity again?
2. Can I go ahead and bottle it or should I wait until activity drops off?
3. If I need to wait to bottle it, how long can it sit in the fermenter. I am may be traveling for work for several weeks soon.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Minbari]

Prolly just released some trapped co2 or stirred up the yeast and now it's going again.
Aways Take a reading and see before bottling.

 

[Donoroto]

1. A change in temperature
2. No, wait a couple days
3. Maybe about 4-6 weeks

...but it should be happy again in 3-5 days

 

[Herm brews]

Welcome to the hobby @Deanomite sound thoughts and advice above. My small 2.5 gallon batches routinely ferment for 3 weeks or longer, without any apparent ill effect. I once left an amber ale in primary fermenter for 6 weeks before bottling. Probably my clearest beer ever.

 

[Deanomite]

Thanks everyone! It seems to have calmed down. Planning to take a reading and bottle it. Thanks again!

 

[Ward Chillington]

1. Why would I see activity again? A. It's very common for that revived activity when bumping up the temp especially after the yeast got a little rest.


2. Can I go ahead and bottle it or should I wait until activity drops off? A. In this case, let your readings make that decision...without the reading you can dead reckon you are done but if you know your OG you can see how much your drop has been and if the beer is ready for the next step...I assume you're bottle conditioning so this is an important consideration...Bottle Bombs can make for a crappy experience.

3. If I need to wait to bottle it, how long can it sit in the fermenter. I am may be traveling for work for several weeks soon. A. See answer #2 If all is good, you will return to a couple cases of ready to drink beer.

 

[RoadRoach]

I routinely and consistently run my fermenters 3 weeks, just for grins and giggles, and mostly to help clarify the beer without additives. I let one of my favorites run 4 weeks minimum because it's a pretty high OG and FG (very sweet malty stout). The higher the expected ABV, the longer you're going to want to ferment it, typically.

You just got a lesson in temperature control for fermenting. Temperature, CO2 content, and Alcohol volume all affect when the yeast go dormant, flocculate, and then drop out of suspension (they just quit eating and swimming). I'm assuming you've removed and cleaned the harvesting ball at least once. If so, you're in secondary ferment already, and most of what's happening now is refinement of the beer and clarifying. There are many beer types that run MONTHS for the process, not weeks, with a lot of temperature control steps and cycles. That little increase in temperature may have been the perfect thing to do. Just keep an eye on it, keep it in a dark place or covered with a jacket. It'll stop again.