bobbrewster

Recipes 

My book says to "check specific gravity periodically untill the readings stop going down." When should I first check my wort's SG and then how often thereafter? So this means it's okay to take the lid off my bucket to check it right? Thanks, Robert

SporkD2

Recipes 

As long as everything is sanitized your fine. Once the bubbling has started to stop you should check every few days until you get the same reading 2-3 times in a row. That means your fermentation has stopped. That is usually when everyone will rack it into a carboy for secondary fermentation to get a clearer result.

Beerthoven

Recipes 

I normally take 2 readings, one after 7 or 8 days and the second after about 3 weeks.

The first reading is done after the krausen falls and assures me that the fermentation went as planned and is not stuck. It is normally within 2 or 3 points of my target FG.

The reading after 3 weeks or so is done before I bottle or before I rack to secondary (I leave my beers in the primary for 3 weeks). By this time the gravity has usually fallen another point or two.

I don't take any more readings than this because I don't think they are necessary in normal circumstances.

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Primary/Secondary:

Kegged: #77 Newcastle Brown, #79 California Common, #80 Old Bushy Tail Special Bitter

Planned: American IPA, Dusseldorf Alt, American Amber

I use secondaries!

malkore

Recipes 

my approach is this: the beers I brew are typically no more than 5% ABV, so they *should* ferment fully in 7 days if everything goes well.

knowing that you need consistent hydrometer readings, 3 days apart...I take my first hydro reading the 5th day after I pitch the yeast. 2 days later I take another reading. That's enough time apart that if it hasn't moved and its close to my expected final gravity, its safe to call 'done'.

i may leave it in primary another week or 2, i may rack to secondary for a couple weeks. depends on the beer.

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Malkore
Primary: English Mild
On tap: Pale Ale, Lancelot's Wheat, English Brown Ale, Steam Beer, HoovNuts IPA
Bottled: MOAM, Braggot, Raspberry Melomel, Merlot, Apfelwein, Pyment, Sweet mead, Cabernet
Gal in 2009: 27, Gal in 2010: 34, Gal in 2011: 13, Gal in 2012: 10

A4J

Recipes 

I leave my beers in the primary for a month. I take a hydro reading after a week if I'm paranoid about whether the yeast is doing its job, but otherwise it's at week 2 or even just a couple of days before I rack.

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Primary: altbier
Tap 1: pale ale
Tap 2: hibiscus kolsch
Tap 3: traditional kolsch
Tap 4: moose drool clone
Tap 5: soda
Bottles: porter, raspberry ale, and a lot of commercial microbrews
planning:flanders red or oud bruin

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