I Never Take Measurements

I never took OG readings when I started out brewing extract kits- no reason to. But after I think fermentation's done (pretty much just leave it a month since I switched to primary-only) I take a hydrometer reading. Of course, now that I'm doing AG, I have to take a refractometer reading to check conversion, and I've also gotten into the habit of doing an OG reading, although I suppose it's not strictly necessary.

Well, I Tasted the wort before I pitched the yeast and it was delicious, it's by far the sweetest wort I've ever made, no readings taken, I'll keep ya posted

It's bubbling away, I'm Wondering if I should rack into a secondary or leave it alone? Never done an all grain, but there was a lot of sediment from the grain

With your attitude, I'd say it doesn't matter.

I like to know whats going on so. I bought a hydrometer.

For me, part of the hobby is continually trying new things and tweaking my system. Experimenting with different mash temps, different mash techniques and boil times. By taking measurements, I can see how this effects my efficiency. It's a mixed blessing the first time you up your efficiency considerably. Your 5% stout is suddenly 7.5%! I like to know this so I can adjust my grain bill (and save some $$$ on grain) for subsequent brews.

If I was brewing known beers on the same system for years, I guess I wouldn't bother as much with measurements. But if you're changing anything and want to improve your brewing, I think measuring is an important aspect of this.

So cheers to the OP for having a nicely dialed in system, and cheers to all you folks that diligently take readings.

I no longer take hydrometer readings as I know from experience that with Beersmith set at 76% I get within 2-3 points of the estimated OG. However I did take lots of readings before I found I was that consistent.

Denny said:

With your attitude, I'd say it doesn't matter.

Click to expand...

Lol, like I said, part of the excitement for me is not taking all those readings and winging it, but I'm aware that it makes it difficult to know where I went wrong if it's no good, but so far I've been pretty happy with most of my brews.


As far as my current brew, there was a lot of sediment that made it through the strainer I used and I was just wondering if that mattered, I mean will it give a bad taste if I leave it in the primary.

Personally, I take an OG reading via the refractometer, then let the brew go my normal ~4 weeks before kegging it. I take a hydrometer sample before I start filling the kegs, to make sure it's in line with what I expected/wanted. A taste test will confirm it.

I don't obsess about getting gravity readings and wanting to get it into keg as fast as possible. For me, 3-4 weeks for a normal OG batch is just fine. Anything BIG, gets longer.

I do record the OG and FG so that I know what the ABV% of the batch is. I usually get asked that question when I'm sharing a batch with friends/family. If I didn't actually have the measurements, I would only be guessing as to what it ended up as. I prefer to KNOW, over having to guess.

I think this subject, along with "To secondary or not?" and others I'm sure, should be relegated to the debate forum.

Bottled it today, it's more like a stout or porter than a wheat beer, man it's black lol, it's great though, not what I wanted, but I've pretty happy as of now, let's see what a few weeks in the bottle does.