unsure

I was getting ready to keg a brew from the secondary,when i got the chance to try out my new toy a hydrometer. So being keen i just took a sample with my other new toy a turkey baster!.
The reading was 10.19 and i am unsure what to think of this as i did not have the hydrometer when i made the brew.There has been activity in the secondary but should i be looking for a lower reading.

As the recipe was 3Kg ofPale Malt Extract(Liquid) and 500g of dry spraymalt(light).Steeped 300g each of Crystal Malt 120L and 300g of English Amber Malt at 70c for 30 mins in 13litre of water.Boiled 50g of Challenger @ 60mins,then 30g of Fuggles @ 15 mins then 30g of WGV @1 min.Cooled to pitching temp of 24c and mixed with pre-cooled, pre-boiled water to make 5g.Added re-hydrated and proofed yeast Safale 04(11gram sachet).
It spent from the 22nd April until 7thMay in the primary at about 20c then racked to secondary carboy,same temp!.Would shaking the carboy or pitching new yeast be OK if the reading is to high,or just keg it anyway.
I tasted the beer from the sampling tube and it reminds me of an Old Winter Warmer(not sure of the strength though????)

Assuming it fermented out strongly i'd say it was done. Was it topped up to 5 UK Gallons or 5 US Gallons?

Caplan said:

Assuming it fermented out strongly i'd say it was done. Was it topped up to 5 UK Gallons or 5 US Gallons?

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Yes it had a very active fermentation after about 18 hours(this is the first brew where i have done a full 60min boil) and it went crazy,i have never had that much krausen before and had to keep changing the airlock....must get a blow-off tube .
Volume wise i had just over 5 UK gallons(including pitching about a pint of proofed yeast ).

Is it worth kegging or leaving for a while(i am going away for 8 days tomorrow afternoon)?

If you had to change airlocks and had activity in secondary then i'm sure it's done. It's also had nearly 3 weeks in secondary already - I'd keg it.

Just about to start now!!!!!!!!!!!!

Could i rack a brew that has been a primary for a week straight onto the small amount of sediment left in my carboy(i put the airlock back on just in case!!!!).

Cheers for your help caplan!I have just finished kegging!!!

Good luck - I'm sure it'll be fine. And Hydrometers are great. I use mine to check the OG of my beers but just let them ferment out with the standard rules (I do wine, cider and hard lemonade too which can be more temperamental with fermentable sugars so the FG is more important with them)

You have a reasonable amount of unfermentable stuff in your recipe, and Safale S-04 doesn't give particularly high attenuation, so I'd say it is definitely done.

I use S-04 when I want to make an ale with a bit of sweetness to it, for this very reason...
(In fact I just cracked the first couple of bottles of my second attempt at my Lobrau Amber Ale, made with this yeast, and it's magnificent!!)

oxford brewer said:

Could i rack a brew that has been a primary for a week straight onto the small amount of sediment left in my carboy(i put the airlock back on just in case!!!!).

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you COULD do that... but there's no good reason to. wash the carboy out and sanitize it before racking into it.
there's just no reason to add the sediment from your first beer into your second beer.