New Homebrewer !

Hi Guys,
I'm really new to this hobby and kinda like it until now. I filled my first fermenter yesterday with a kit of Muntons American Style Light Ale. I have two questions for you to help me:

1) My hydrometer was showing 1,300. I think it's too high. Is it possible I missread and it is 1,030 ??? I'm pretty sure it was written 300 on it but the spaces between 1,000-1,100-1,200-1,300 are really small. Do you think it's a problem ?

2) My Muntons kits instructions says to leave it covered for 5-7 days and then to bottle it. I though I should do a transfer to my glass corboys in 7 days and then wait for 2 weeks. What do you suggest ? and should I add something to the carboy if I need to transfer it ?

Thanks

Steve

Your hydrometer is set to read at the hundredths, like 1.010, 1.020, etc. The highest you'll ever get might be 1.100. (I have a friend who makes big beers like that). The majority of my beers have a starting gravity of between 1.046 to 1.060. When it ferments, the s.g. drops because alcohol is lighter than water. A hydrometer dropped in plain water at 60 degrees reads 1.000. So, as it ferments it might go from 1.050 to 1.016. When the s.g. is the same three days in a row, your beer is finished fermenting and can be moved to secondary or bottled. I prefer a secondary so my beer clears and finishes up. I leave it in secondary for 2 weeks or so then bottle. You don't add anything at all at this point- just siphon it off the sediment on the bottom with a siphon tube being very careful not to splash or otherwise aerate your beer. Keep it under airlock in a cool dark place.

Hope this helps,

Lorena

also, how a hydrometer goes is usually

1.000
-
-
-
-
10
-
-
-
-
20


The 10 and the 20 do not represent 1.100, but 1.010, a little confusion there, and that is what you probably read it as.

For question number two a lot of people on the board like to follow the 1-2-3 rule of thumb (1 week primary, 2 secondary, 3 bottled) I think that it is a good idea to take the S.G. of the brew when fermentation starts to slow down until you get the same S.G. for three days. Then you know that the beer is ready to be moved to the secondary.

Good Luck, and welcome!!!

I don't want to open my bucket to see if it's fermenting and it's a closed bucket.

How will I know if it's fermenting ?

Steve99 said:

I don't want to open my bucket to see if it's fermenting and it's a closed bucket.

How will I know if it's fermenting ?

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Well you can also just watch the airbubbles that come out of the airlock, another rule of thumb is that when the bubbles are occuring at less than 1bpm, then you should be good. However, it is ok to open the lid of your bucket to take a sample, just make sure that you sterilize everything that the beer comes into contact with, and that included the lid!

My closed bucket doesn't have an airlock !

Steve99 said:

My closed bucket doesn't have an airlock !

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KaBOOM!!! Another one about to join the Mop The Ceiling Club!!!!
You need some way to vent the CO2 produced during fermentation, or you're going to have a bucket bomb. An airlock, a device which lets CO2 out without letting outside air in, is best.

For real, what should I do now to avoid that ?

I think you'd better loosen the lid on your fermenter. don't open it, just crack it slightly to relieve pressure, then let the lid sit on loosely till fermentation is done, probably around two weeks. Then for your next batch, get an airlock.

Ok, I have a spare cover and I just made an hole in it and insert an airlock. Now, is it better to do what you said a open it a little bit or to remove the cover completely and put the other one with the airlock ?

The airlock would be preferred, just make sure it's all sanitized before putting it on.

Also if you put a hole in, make sure that no air escapes from around the hole, and that the hole is airtight. There was a recent thread about that somewhere but I forget where, ill look though.

I got a stupid question on this part. If alcohol is lighter than H2O, then why won't the hydrometer read less than 1.00?

Ol' Grog said:

I got a stupid question on this part. If alcohol is lighter than H2O, then why won't the hydrometer read less than 1.00?

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Because not all of the sugar is converted to alcohol. Most of my final gravities range from 1.012 - 1.020. I have seen meads that have had so much sugar converted that the hydrometer drops below the 1.000 mark.

ayrton said:

Because not all of the sugar is converted to alcohol. Most of my final gravities range from 1.012 - 1.020. I have seen meads that have had so much sugar converted that the hydrometer drops below the 1.000 mark.

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I make wine and I like a dry wine so I brew mine to 990 to 995.

We now have two 99s here...didn't the NHL retire use of that number?