ASGiaquinta

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Hey Guys,

First batch came out just okay... so now I'm on to my second batch with hopes of improvement. I've been reading a bunch of books and forum posts, but I just can't seem to find the answers to a couple questions that I've had.

- My beer is in the primary, a 6.5 gallon plastic brewing bucket and I am hesitant about taking the top off over a few days to get hydrometer readings. Is there a method you use to avoid contamination (other than sanitizing the hydrometer), and does it hurt the beer to keep pulling the top off to take readings?(I don't want to let oxygen in.)

- When conditioning my beer in a secondary and bottles, (I'm currently using White Labs California Ale Yeast, recommended temp ~ 70), do I need to keep my glass carboy and bottles at this temperature as well? My apartment is normally around 64-65, and I've had the heat cranked to keep it around 70... .was hoping to be able to lower it back down.

I apologize if these are noob questions, but would appreciate some light on the subjects.

Cheers!

Arkador

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after you pitch, slap the lid on, and leave it alone for at least 7-10 days before you even think of taking a reading.

Use a sanitized turkey baster to take a sample to get your reading, don't put your hydrometer in the bucket. taking a sample won't bother it. I use a hydrometer, so my sample is only about 3 drops of liquid.

look up "swamp cooler" for some level of temp control. I keep mine in a Rubbermaid bin with several gallons of water in it, and add bottles of frozen water throughout the day to keep my temperature lower than ambient temps.

showtime24

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im new also but ill share what others have told me on here

1- once you take your OG and you put the lid on it I wouldnt take another reading until you think it is done or almost done. when you take that next reading just be careful to not let anything fall into your primary check the gravity and put the lid back on. do it again in 3 day and if the FG reading is the same and close to where your kits says it should be then your done and you can either rack it to seconday or bottle.

2-it will not hurt to have your beer in the primary to ferment at around 64, the only thing it will do is take longer. you would rather have the temps lower than they should be rather than higher.

Revvy

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A huge majority of the brewers on here and in general use their hydrometer 2-3 times and have never contaminated their beer because of it...On here and in books we recommend a TON of things NOT TO DO...But all books, and many of us on here advocate using a hydrometer...Seriously, do you think it would be recommended if it was a bad idea???

Your beer is MUCH stronger than that....

Get a wine thief or a turkey baster...sanitize it (a spray bottle of starsan or iodophor is great for this,) spray stopper or fermenter lid, draw off a sample, close lid or stopper on fermenter. Insert Hydrometer in theif, or if using a turkey baster, fill a test jar, then insert hydrometer....Tap it a few times to get it to float...read...

Your beer is blanketed by a cushion of CO2...It is protected, heck many of us have submerged body parts (sometimes unsanitized) into their fermenters and the beer has turned out fine....

Here's a collection of stories that show just how hardy your beer really is;

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/what-some-mistakes-you-made-where-your-beer-still-turned-out-great-96780/

Having said that, You don't have to take constant readings. If you are doing what many of us are and leaving your beer in primary for a month, then bottling, then you really only need two readings, and that is really if you want to know if you hit your target gravity, and what your alcohol by volume is, and you do that one at bottling time.

If you choose to secondary, which less and less folks are doing, again if you give it sufficient time, and I recommend 14 days after yeast pitch, you could take on to see how close to your target gravity is. Or you could just rack it over.

The only time you really need to take a bunch of readings, is if you are worried about whether or not fermentation is happening. You don't go by airlock readings, anyway...but if you don't trust the yeast then that's when we recommend taking readings....Because that is your ONLY REAL diagnostic tool.

But if you come to realize that unless you pitched your yeast into boiling hot wort, that fermentation is going to happen, and that yeast RARELY doesn't work. In other words if you trust the process. Then you don't really need to take a lot.

Now if you decide that you you just have to secondary and THINK you NEED to do it immediately, then that's when you need to think about multiple readings....that's where the 2 readings over 3 consecutive days idea comes into play.

Now having said that, If using basic sanitization, taking a hydrometer reading is no risk at all. Like others have said there is a layer of co2 that protects your beer, and even taking multiple readings is nothing to worry about.

This is what I use, and it works with both buckets and carboys



And



Here's what I do....

1) With a spray bottle filled with starsan I spray the lid of my bucket, or the mouth of the carboy, including the bung. Then I spray my turkey baster inside and out with sanitize (or dunking it in a container of sanitizer).

2) Open fermenter.

3) Draw Sample

4) fill sample jar (usualy 2-3 turky baster draws

5)Spray bung or lid with sanitizer again

6) Close lid or bung

6) take reading

It is less than 30 seconds from the time the lid is removed until it is closed again.

Probably less if you have help.

And unless a bird swoops down and poops in your fermenter, you wont have any trouble.

__________________

ASGiaquinta

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Thanks a lot for the answers, especially Revvy... that was quite the post. I didn't even post this long ago hehe... love these forums.