I tried to take a specific gravity today from my primary. It has been 2 days since I started it. There are so many little bubbles that the SG is showing that it is even higher than the original. I'm not sure what to do. Will the bubbles calm down in a few days?
Problem with champagne yeast
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buzzerj
Well-Known Member
Yeah sometimes early on it's tough to get an accurate reading because of all the foam from fermentation if you try to take a reading directly from your fermenting bucket. Don't worry. It will calm down soon.
bernardsmith
Well-Known Member
If you have made a large batch one thing you can do is simply heat the sample to allow the CO2 (the gas produced by the yeast) to be expelled from the sample. That might mean allowing your hydrometer to sit in the cylinder for a while before trying to take a reading. Or it may mean that you place the sample in your microwave and heat it for a 10 seconds and then allow that to cool before taking a reading. The CO2 will add to the buoyancy of the hydrometer and give you an erroneous reading. Normally, I have no problem returning my samples to the carboy or fermenter but if I heat my sample or allow it to stand for 10 minutes I will either drink it or pour it away.
Day 4:
I heated it up and there were still tons of bubbles. I shook the sample and kept letting off the carb (like a soda) until it was flat. The reading was 1.084.
I think I screwed it up though. I had made a starter and added it after I got the first specific gravity. So after I added the starter I never did another SG. I'm sure it was off then. That could be why i'm getting a higher reading. I hope the batch isn't completely ruined.
RegarRenill
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I doubt you ruined it. You may not know "exactly" how strong the wine is, but it should ferment out just fine.
gratus fermentatio
Well-Known Member
Give your sample a good stir before you take a reading, this helps to degas it. When you put your hydrometer in the sample, give it a spin to dislodge the remaining bubbles.
Regards, GF.
Regards, GF.
If its bubbeling that much I would not worry about taking a sg reading. Its doing what it should be doing. When it calms down will be the time to take a sg reading.
Just my 2 cents.
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Just my 2 cents.
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bernardsmith
Well-Known Member
The fizz when you stir is the CO2 being expelled - that expulsion is not itself a sign of any activity but your own but the production of the CO2 is an indication of the yeast's activity since CO2 is a byproduct of the alcohol being formed. To know how active your fermentation is you do really want to take gravity readings - and even if (IMO) they are not accurate because you are not able to get good readings that do not include CO2 gas in the sample, taking readings a day or so apart should still show a drop in the gravity as you can hypothesize that the same amount of CO2 is likely to be in each sample so any change in reading is likely to be coming from the increase in alcohol and drop in sugar content.. So while not necessarily accurate , your readings will still provide you with lots of very important information (whether there is a drop in gravity; how quickly it is dropping; how soon you are likely to need to rack into an airlock sealed carboy etc etc..)
At what SG level do you suggest that I transfer into a carboy?
Thanks for all of the help everyone.
bernardsmith
Well-Known Member
I tend to rack when the SG falls to about 1.005 but others on this forum tend to be rather more conservative and rack earlier (when their wine is at about 1.010). I guess my thinking is that if you rack too soon you can remove too many active yeast cells and that can stall the fermentation. I would rather have a stalled fermentation at 1.005 than one at 1.010...
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