First Batch Quesiton, Broken Hydrometer.

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tjwor

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On Thursday 8/16 I began my first batch. While cleaning and sanitizing my equipment I broken my hydrometer... (I knew they were fragile, but didn't expect to break it before I even began!) So I have no reading from the start and no way to get a reading now.


Beer I'm brewing is the Irish Red Ale, Dry Yeast.

My yeast was added and the beer moved to my Fermentation Chamber at 9:00PM on 8/16. Temperature of Chamber was 64*.
9h30m- Chamber 64*, Percolating every 3 seconds.
18h15m- Chamber 64*, Percolating every .5 seconds, beer temperature 64*
20h53m- Fuse Blown on Chamber A/C- Chamber temp 70*, Percolating .5 sec, beer temp 64*
26h15m- Chamber 66* Percolating every .5 sec, beer temp 63-64*
48h26m- Fuse Blown on A/C- Unsure how long, was gone for he day, Chamber Temp 75*, Beer Temp 70*, Perc appeared to be every minute or so, once I was there the a/c was running and cooling the beer as well as the air in the top of the jug so it could have potentially been percolating more than that.
50h32m- Chamber 65*, No Percolation Evident, Beer Temp 66*

So basically it appears as no fermentation is happening at this time, and there has been very little since the beer temperature rose to 70*. Now as I stated I no longer have a hydrometer to test and ensure fermentation is complete.

What my plan is to wait until Tuesday and move to the secondary if I don't see any changes in fermentation, is this a good game plan? Should I wait until Thursday? Is fermentation actually complete after basically 48 hrs (or less)?
 
Lack of airlock activity doesn't mean fermentation isn't happening, after only 3 days it more than likely still is.

DO NOT transfer to secondary until it's done. Give it two weeks minimum and verify with your nice new hydrometer that readings are steady for a few days. Then think about transferring to secondary, if you're going to do that.
 
Let it sit for a minimum of two weeks total. Should be plenty of time to go get a new hydrometer. If you really, really need to secondary it, take a couple readings over a couple days then transfer. But, FWIW, my first brew was an Irish Red and I just let it ride for three weeks in primary then bottled. Delish!
 
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