help quick

How can I take OG without a test jar and no wine thief/turkey baster??? All I have is the hydrometer

Carboy or bucket?

I did this once but I'd recommend at least getting a test jar since that has the proper volume and dimension but clean and sanitize your hand and as thin of a glass as you have and fill it up. Downside is that I wouldn't recommend pouring it back in so you'll basically lose a beer but if you want to chance it go ahead.

If Carboy, do you have a racking cane?

Bucket, first batch. As long as well sanitized with starsan can I poor it back?

It's gonna be a high gravity IPA if that matters

Bucket makes it all the easier. Just sanitize your hands really well, and your hydrometer, and place the hydrometer in the bucket, being very careful going in and when extracting.

You should be able to clear a space in the foam, using a sanitized spoon or the like, that's formed from aerating the wort, if that's worrying you.

Should I use a filtered funnel or just dump it all in the bucket? (hop sludge)

Either/or.

Personally I just dump everything I possibly can into the fermenter because it all settles out and compacts in the bottom after 3, or so, weeks.

It's supposed to be 1 week primary 2 secondary soo filtering the sludge is coop? Sorry paranoid

You know, if your brew is still in the kettle and cooled down to pitching temp, you could put the sanitized hydrometer in there to get your OG reading.

If it's a high gravity IPA I'd just leave it in primary for three weeks and forget about racking to secondary. You can dry hop in the primary for the last week if you wanted.

Does OG 1.176 sound about right??? Obviously my first hydro reading

I'm thinking probably 1.076 is probably the reading you're looking for.
1.076 should give you approx. 8%ABV
1.176 even if it finished at 1.090 would be a 12% beer unless you're trying to max out the ABV limit the yeast will produce I'm assuming you probably reading the hydrometer off.

Maybe... It said 1.100 then several notches above that it said 70 and it was three little notches above that 70 so I just thought it meant 1.176 maybe your right at 1.076

TheCollector said:

How can I take OG without a test jar and no wine thief/turkey baster??? All I have is the hydrometer

Click to expand...

I wouldn't risk it. I'd just let it ferment as is, give it three weeks in primary, bottle, drink it as is and chalk it up to experience. You will have beer in the end, and honestly at this point it is what it is and ther's not much you can do about it. Why risk ruining a batch. Just my $.02.

And you dont need a secondary. Just let it sit in the fermenting bucket for 3 weeks. Use your "secondary" as a 2nd primary and brew another batch!

Another question...
I have a three piece airlock and I used starsan in it up to the line and its actually bubbling up out of the top a little bit. is that ok? It's not making a mess really but a bit did come out.... And it is constantly bubbling in the airlock so thats a good sign right?

its good. if you start seeing foam from the krausen coming then get a blowoff tube on it

I've always had problems with trying to dump back in after taking a hydrometer reading. I know your inclination is to want to keep as much beer as possible (this is especially true as I was brewing one-gallon batches at a time) but I wouldn't recommend it.

So my ingredients were 6 lbs. Gold liquid malt extract, 3.3 lbs. Amber6 lbs. Gold liquid malt extract, 3.3 lbs. Amber LME, 8 oz. Caramel 40L specialty grains, 2 oz. Cascade, LME, 8 oz. Caramel 40L specialty grains, 2 oz. Cascade, 1 oz. Willamette, 1 oz. Goldings pellet hops, oak chips, 1 oz. Willamette, 1 oz. Goldings pellet hops, oak chips, in 5 gallons of water so does 1.076 sound right? That's what I keep hearing on here and on realbeer.com forums

Ok so I finally got the hydometer back out and looked it over and I'm pretty sure.....its OG is 1.064 not 1.076...... So what do you think the FG will end up at? What does that translate to as far as abv?

That seems lower than expected for the ingredients no? It's considered a high gravity IPA by Midwest brewing where I ordered it from.