When to take a hydrometer reading

I brewed my first batch on Sunday. It is now Friday and the activity in the airlock has slowed to a bubble every 45 seconds.

When do most people take their hydrometer readings. What helps you determine when it is time to take a reading?

Thanks!

Go ahead and take a reading. Its probably ready for secondary now. Continue taking readings every other day or so until you get three consecutive readings that are the same, then bottle.

out if interest, do you put the sample into a sanitzied container, then pour the beer back in the fermenter after taking the reading, or throw the beer away?

You don't throw it away!!!! You drink it. It should taste like flat beer.

you drink the beer! Waste not want not.

Once you remove the beer you shouldn't put it back into the fermenter, Those few ounces aren't worth infecting the entire batch.

I take a hydrometer sample after 7 days. Usually it is close enough (within 2-3 points) to my target FG that I don't see the need to take another sample. Then I leave the beer in primary for another 14 days or so before either bottling or racking to a secondary.

I very rarely take SG readings any more. I leave the beer in primary a couple of weeks, and then check the sg before I rack it to either the keg or to the clearing tank (secondary). I have had a beer in primary since last Wednesday, and every once in a while I hear a little "blurp" but otherwise I haven't paid much attention to it. I'll check the FG when I go to rack it, and if it where it should be, then I'll continue with the racking.

As you can see, there isn't any "right" answer, except to not rack it or bottle it until it's done. The best way to know if it's done is to take consequetive SG readings, and if it's not changing it's done. Since I wait so long before racking it, I don't really worry about taking it three days in a row.

Thanks, Yooper, good answer.

I need to do a better job of rounding out my responses with some of the why, rather than just the what.

Drink it and take notes. This is a valuable part of the learning process.

Thanks for the responses! I am going to take a reading. Hopefully, the beer's FG will line up with the recipes and I can rack to the secondary.

Let us know! and let us know how it tastes, too. It's so much fun seeing the beer go from wort to green beer to great beer. I taste it every step of the way.

LeftyMcGee said:

I brewed my first batch on Sunday. It is now Friday and the activity in the airlock has slowed to a bubble every 45 seconds.

When do most people take their hydrometer readings. What helps you determine when it is time to take a reading?

Thanks!

Click to expand...

whenever you feel the urge!

i think gravity readings are most important...when to go to carboy, when to bottle. i just brewed a batch that i think will be ready to bottle in less than a week. two stage. fermenting like crazy!

The gravity reading was 1.012 and the recipes range was 1.010-1.014. So I racked it to the secondary.

I tried out the beer and it was flat and warm, but tasted pretty good. It did seem to have a little bit of a funny taste, but I am guessing that was due to it being green.

On a side note, during the siphon I noticed a few tiny air bubbles in the line. It wasn't a lot, but I am wondering if this is normal. I know aeration would be a bad thing at this point.

The bubbles you see can either be air that was in the siphon tube and was trapped, or just CO2 bubbles. Either way, not something to be worried about.

My first batch I must have taken 21 readings in the first 36 hours.

Now I take an initial reading and one about 5 days into fermentation, then one while racking to the keg. That's it.

By the way...that first batch was awesome...despite my best efforts to ruin it by muddling about every 3-4 hours.

Don't fear the hydrometer reading.