Gravity Checks in Bottle?

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BBQnBrew

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I was watching a You Tube video from Home Brewers Outpost where he explains that you can take a small amount of beer (enough to get a reading in the test cylindar) out of the primary just after pitching your yeast, and keeping it in a bottle for future gravity checks. This way you don't have to open the primary during fermintation. Oh, and you need to put a paper towel in the bottle and keep it in the same environment as the pale.

Will this give an accurate gravity reading for the beer that is :confused:in the primary?
 
I'm trying this method, I'll compare the two and see if it is accurate

How soon do you think you will know? I put it in the primary last night, and was planning on checking it every 3 or 4 hours, just kidding, I'm impatient but not that bad. I do want to hear your what you come up with especially if its in the next few days,or week.
 
I just brewed Sunday, so it will be a few weeks. I can tell you the beer in the bottle looks like beer, thick layer of krausen on top
 
I just brewed Sunday, so it will be a few weeks. I can tell you the beer in the bottle looks like beer, thick layer of krausen on top
I actually posted a different thread with the same question, wasn't getting too many reponses with this one. Anyway, a Senior Member, ThatGuyRyan responded with the following answer: "I really wouldn’t trust that. Fermentation depends on a lot of things and total volume, shape of fermenter, temperature all factor in. It may be close but I don’t know how accurate it would be. I wouldn’t do it IMO. Taking 2-3 gravity samples during the normal fermentation process 10+ days in really isn’t harmful to your beer as long as you take your normal precautions. By the time you start to pull samples you should be fairly fermented out and the alcohol content give the beer a fair amount of protection. Just take the amount of samples needed to confirm fermentation is complete no more and use sanitized equipment while trying not to disturb the beer."

But I think that I'll do what you said and check it both ways to see how close the two readings are, I dunno.
 
Some people refer to it as a satellite fermentation. I've never heard of putting a paper towel into the bottle.... perhaps covering the bottle with a paper towel would make more sense?

I'd agree that pulling samples from the actual beer is the way to go. If you're not trying to rush the beer along, all you need to do is take one sample @ week 3 (which should be real close to your expected FG number), and a final sample a few days later when you're ready to bottle to confirm that you've reached your terminal gravity.
 
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