Airlock
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Tall_Yotie
Well-Known Member
There really should only be one way o remove an airlock; pulling it out of the hole on the lid / carboy.
By checking FG directly in the primary, do you mean dropping the hydrometer into the primary itself? It is difficult to read, and a potential source of contamination. When racking to secondary just pull off a small amount of the beer into your hydrometer flask / tube.
By checking FG directly in the primary, do you mean dropping the hydrometer into the primary itself? It is difficult to read, and a potential source of contamination. When racking to secondary just pull off a small amount of the beer into your hydrometer flask / tube.
i would read up on here about the pros and cons of using a secondary. i am a new brewer as well but it seems like the overwhelming opinion is to keep it in the primary for atleast 3 weeks it reduces the chance of infection and aeration that you might get when racking to a secondary but to each is own...on the airlock question i see you said water you should be using cheap vodka or a starsan solution in the airlock so if it does drip in the beer it wont hurt it. and finnaly yes you can check your fg in the primary just make sure you dont introduce any air into your beer...as i said i am a new brewer so please take this with a grain of salt but there is a lot of info on this site and the seach button up top helps a bunch for specific questions.
Tall_Yotie
Well-Known Member
Go to secondary if you want, or don't, it is your call. Many other threads are on this topic, so look around.
Changeduser123
Well-Known Member
It looks like the OP made his mind regarding moving to a secondary, so let's answer the questions:
If you squeeze the stopper to let air get in, you will not have anything coming back from the airlock.
I always take a reading from the fermenter before transferring to secondary or bottling. From the primary, I sometimes just drop the sanitized hydrometer in there, but reading it is not really accurate. It will give you a good estimate though. But I would recommend using a thief (sanitized as well): just put you hydrometer in the thief, dip the thief in the fermenter, take it out to take a reading, and empty it back in the fermenter.
From a carboy, I always use the thief method. You can also use a turkey baster to take a sample, but I would not put the beer back in the beer in that case, as you will have to transfer the sample in another container to take the reading => oxidation + contamination risk increase.
If you squeeze the stopper to let air get in, you will not have anything coming back from the airlock.
I always take a reading from the fermenter before transferring to secondary or bottling. From the primary, I sometimes just drop the sanitized hydrometer in there, but reading it is not really accurate. It will give you a good estimate though. But I would recommend using a thief (sanitized as well): just put you hydrometer in the thief, dip the thief in the fermenter, take it out to take a reading, and empty it back in the fermenter.
From a carboy, I always use the thief method. You can also use a turkey baster to take a sample, but I would not put the beer back in the beer in that case, as you will have to transfer the sample in another container to take the reading => oxidation + contamination risk increase.
ThePearsonFam
Well-Known Member
+1 If you use the turkey baster, ensure it's sanitized first... I prefer a thief. If you don't know what it is, you can see what it looks like here: http://media.midwestsupplies.com/me...0e43594a9c230972d/f/e/fermtech-wine-thief.jpg
SilentAutumn
Well-Known Member
This. To look at the cross contamination risk, I either introduce a turkey baster to my brew or a hydrometer. I prefer to put the hydrometer directly in my buckets versus taking a sample. The risk of introducing oxygen is very low. But if I have to take a reading from a carboy, I grab a sample. Don't want to risk losing the hydrometer in the carboy.
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