It wouldn't be a brew day if something didn't go wrong

Today was a first for me. Everything went fine: I hit all my temps, no boilover, chilled in 15 minutes to 64F. Everything was put away 4 hours after starting. A first.

Then I remembered that I had stuck my final gravity sample in the freezer to cool down. No worry, it might be frosty, I will just put it in the microwave to thaw it. Wrong.

I open the door and the cup is on its side and my sample is frozen everywhere inside the freezer. So what a guy gotta do except meticously collect all the shaving, put them back in the cup and take his reading ?

I hit my starting gravity dead on btw

I'm assuming you pitched? carboy?

Do you have a wine thief http://www.fermentationtrap.com/1801.html? If you do, I'd soak the sucker in Star-Sans for 5 minutes or so, sanitize my measuring tube (in case you touch the side of it putting in the first sample) and then pull a sample from the carboy.

If you don't have a thief, I'd highly recommend you get one. One of the hard lessons I learned awhile ago was not to trust the bubbles (or more correctly the lack of bubbles) in the air lock as a sign that fermentation is done. Having a thief allows you to take a sample when you think you might have a stuck fermentation and use the measurement instead of the observation of not seeing activity. Makes a difference (and reduces the chances of bottle bombs too).

I ferment in bucket but I don't take a sample just after yeast pitching in order to insure proper cell count. Hence the collect the wort method. I have a wine thief but it only serves as a test tube for the hydro nowdays (I take my sample using a mug) !

jfr1111 said:

I ferment in bucket but I don't take a sample just after yeast pitching in order to insure proper cell count. Hence the collect the wort method. I have a wine thief but it only serves as a test tube for the hydro nowdays (I take my sample using a mug) !

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i have been known to do the same! cheers.