Do the after bottling Hydrometer readings mean anything?

Just curious I suppose as this is my first batch. It went from about 1.012 back up to 1.030 so well i was suprised. Perhaps irrelevant?

It tastes great ... not real fizzy but definately carbonated ... its a few days early.

tia
jan

You have created one or more of the following conditions:

You set yourself up for bottle bombs.
You didn't mix your priming sugar very well.
You added too much priming sugar.
and/or
You need lessons in hydrometer reading.

The following will help you (and us) figure out what happened:

How much priming sugar did you add?
How did you add the priming sugar?
Are you correcting your hydrometer readings for temperature?

Priming sugar should only increase the SG by 0.002 to 0.003.

You have to de-gas the beer. I would imagine that what C02 is in solution is causing the hydrometer to sit higher in the liquid.

ohoh and here i thought it was great!
I used 3/4 cup of the sugar as suggested for ales
I dissolved the sugar in 2 cups of boiling water then mixed into the batch slowly.

I did take the reading at fridge temp <<< so no I did not correct it.

I will try again tomorrow on a room temp bottle.

I think I am fine with reading the hydrometer everything else seemed to go like clockwork.

I will post tomorrows results I just hate to drink a warm one but if the readings are relevant I want to make sure I get it right next time around.

Brewtopia said:

You have to de-gas the beer. I would imagine that what C02 is in solution is causing the hydrometer to sit higher in the liquid.

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I don't think that's the case, 'topia. I've never heard that before, and I just tested it myself with a fully carbonated beer. The hydrometer reading was 1.010, just as you'd expect for an FG with a light bodied beer like I poured.

cdnjan said:

I did take the reading at fridge temp <<< so no I did not correct it.

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Assuming the FG of your beer was 1.012, and you have a hydrometer calibrated to 60° F, the reading at a "fridge temp" of 40° F would be 1.013. I'd say temperature correction is not your problem.

The most likely situation is that your priming sugar is unevenly mixed, and you will have an unevenly carbonated batch. An increase of 0.018 points at bottling will DEFINITELY create a bottle bomb, and I think you are at risk for a few of those. Put your bottled beer in a Rubbermaid tub with a lid, and treat it very carefully until you sort this out.

Brewtopia said:

You have to de-gas the beer. I would imagine that what C02 is in solution is causing the hydrometer to sit higher in the liquid.

Click to expand...

Actually co2 is a gas which is a lot lighter than the beer. Which would cause it to sit lower in the brew and obviously give you a lower hydro reading.

And also if you are reading it at fridge temps I believe you found your culprit. Colder liquid is more dense and causing it to sit higher. Try keeping one of those brews and pouring it at 65 degrees or whatever your hydrometer is rated for. I bet it gets you quite a bit closer, then if you want just cool you sample back down in the fridge and drink it later.

I have a question: why are you taking hydrometer readings after bottling?

malkore said:

I have a question: why are you taking hydrometer readings after bottling?

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I was thinking the same thing

my question thats been bugging me for a while is how does one take hydrometer reading from the carboys without disturbing anything? i'm assuming you take a reading towards the end of the fermenting process but what if your reading tells you that the FG is still too high and needs more time in the fermenter? obviously you don't want to rack the beer out to only have to rack it back in and increase the chance of contamination.

How do you guys steal enough beer from the fermenters to get a reading?

Dextersmom, you wait until the excitement's gone down in the primary, then you'd take readings. Wait until the krausen has fallen, and you can see the color starting to change as the yeast fall out of suspension. Then use a sanitized turkey baster or a wine theif to steal some beer.

Also, if you racked to secondary early, there's no reason to rack it 'back' into the primary fermenter, just leave it where it is.

I guess my other question too is if you're not following a recipe that lists a nominal OG and FG then how do you know. But i guess you answered that too. Krausen will fall, yeast will fall out, hydrometer reading would be around 1/4 the OG. So i guess theres a lot of factors that can tell you when the primary stage is complete.

rollinred said:

Actually co2 is a gas which is a lot lighter than the beer. Which would cause it to sit lower in the brew and obviously give you a lower hydro reading.

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Not at all. Not at all. Not at all.

Bubbles of CO2 form on and cling to the hydrometer, buoying it up in the flask and providing an erroneously high reading.


TL

malkore said:

I have a question: why are you taking hydrometer readings after bottling?

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I'm brand new to this and was just curious ... I guess it was a bad thing to do but perhaps it is showing some of us different things that can happen.

Thank you all for your input

Signed
Work In Progress
Jan

Well, by 'bottle' I assume you mean 12 oz beer bottles...not the 5 gallon glass carboy...

Regardless, whomever asked about getting samples out of a carboy, the easiest thing is to drop $10 (or less) on a Wine thief. the ghetto method is a big turkey baster.

malkore said:

Well, by 'bottle' I assume you mean 12 oz beer bottles...not the 5 gallon glass carboy...

Regardless, whomever asked about getting samples out of a carboy, the easiest thing is to drop $10 (or less) on a Wine thief. the ghetto method is a big turkey baster.

Click to expand...

You see this thread is very usefull I had no idea what the extra piece of equipment was that came with my kit so it sat unused as I carefully tipped my HEAVY carboy for my sample

TY now I know and will be very happy to use it next time
Yes I did bottle into 12oz bottles


Cheers,
Jan