ISO: good description of gravity readings and Hydrometer uses....

so, I have a 6 gallon bath of Apfelwein going. Its my first batch of ANYTHING EVER. The recipe looked easy, and has obviously gotten much praise on this board.

Now, I am not sure exactly when I should be testing the "gravity" etc. of my batch. I have a Hydrometer. When should I start testing it, and how often? What exactly am I looking for besides a zero sugar content???

I'm not expert on Apfelwein. just bottled my first batch... after eight weeks in the carboy. It took 4 weeks to begin to clear and then I took a SG reading which was 1.002, it is suppose to finish up at .998! The first month my temp was 68*, I think that the recommended temp is 72*

I tested SG two week later and then again after a week, it was stable at 1.001 and I bottled with some priming sugar to carb it up...

hey Wooly, thanks for your reply. Def. useful info that Ill also need. I should have been more thorough in my original post. I have no idea about gravity readings. What they are and what they should be. Is there a page somehwere that describes this major part of brewing in full?

I'm not with the ISO, but I think I can tackle hydrometer uses.

You should take a gravity reading just before pitching your yeast to get your starting gravity (SG). This tells you how much sugar is in solution of your wort (or must). If you followed EdWort's recipe, it should have been around 1.064 or so.

As the yeast consumes the sugar, it replaces it with ethanol among other fun stuff. Since ethanol is lighter than sugar (and water), the gravity will go down as fermentation proceeds. When the yeast has consumed all the fermentable sugars, a gravity reading at that time would be called a terminal or finishing gravity (FG).

The FG has a certain target for most recipes, which will help you know when fermentation is complete. Also, by relating the two gravities, you can calculate the alcohol content of the finished fermented thing you have made!

ah, ok very good. So If im not mistaken, the finishing gravity of Ed's recidpe is .99 right?

0.990 would be quite low, remember that extra digit. In the first post it says 0.999 or less should be the FG. But my first attempt at Edwort's recipe finished at 1.001 after 5 weeks in the primary. So don't take the FG as a requirement, when the gravity is stable for successive readings taken across at least 3 days, it is done. Read this: How to Brew - By John Palmer - Appendix A - Using Hydrometers

And while you're at it, read the rest of that great book, which is available online for free, get yourself some more equipment, and make some beer!

All good stuff just, be mindful of other forms of gravity and where how you place you hydrometer.

It seems many of us, all too often, decide to use our hydrometers to test the hardness of various flooring (usually concrete). Very often, we tend to forget which is actually hardest and find repeated test are necessary.

It appears that none of us have ever thought to make notes regarding our results when attempting the Concrete Hardness Hydrometer Drop Test.

GilaMinumBeer said:

All good stuff just, be mindful of other forms of gravity and where how you place you hydrometer.

It seems many of us, all too often, decide to use our hydrometers to test the hardness of various flooring (usually concrete). Very often, we tend to forget which is actually hardest and find repeated test are necessary.

It appears that none of us have ever thought to make notes regarding our results when attempting the Concrete Hardness Hydrometer Drop Test.

Click to expand...

I made a note and bought a refractometer.

z987k said:

I made a note and bought a refractometer.

Click to expand...

As did but, how many hydro's did it cost you?