Hydrometer help...

The OG on my Stone IPA clone was 1.055, I just took a reading and its at 1.022 right now. Is it time to rack to secondary or should I give it a few more nights? Still getting used to reading my hydrometer.

Sounds like it's got a little way to go yet. How long has it been in the primary? The usual rule of thumb is to wait until you have at least three consecutive days with the same reading. Me, I just leave it in the primary for a week or two and then rack.

Generally, the FG should be 25% of the OG.

In your case 13 is your magic number. (55/4=13) It's still quite high.

Do not rack...it's not done.

I took another reading tonight its still at 1.022. Is it possible that the original reading could have been off??? Is it possible that its just stalled???

At this point I would give your beer a swirl. This will get yeast that has settled back into suspension. Can you post your recipe? Some brands so extract (I am assuming this is extract) are less fermentable than others, and it is possible that you are at final gravity, although highly improbable. However, if you are getting the same reading two days in a row, the yeast are not munching on that last bit of sugar very fast. Give it a swirl and then give it 24 hours. See if it has gone down any.

You're sitting on a 4.3% beer right now. Pretty light for an IPA.

Looks like it was only two hours between your readings. Check every 24 hours. At this stage, you’re not going to see a big drop in just 2 hours.

I agree with cubbies about re-agitating the yeast (gently).

It is a Stone IPA clone partial mash kit.


2# Two row pale
1# Crystal 20
1#Crystal 40
6.5# Light liquid malt extract.

1oz Warrior 60mins
1oz Centennial 15mins
1oz Centennial 5 mins

White labs ale yeast


The first reading I took on Tuesday night, then I took a reading last night. Do I need to use my stirring spoon to swirl it around, or just rotate the bucket? I'll take another reading tonight.

mikeyc said:

...Do I need to use my stirring spoon to swirl it around, or just rotate the bucket? I'll take another reading tonight.

Click to expand...

I always jsut give the bucket a slight rocking back and forth to not only stir up the bottom, but to knock down any yeast that "beached" itself on the walls in the thick krausen.