Yeah i saw that thread were like 4 people said u don't need a hydrometer. but hydrometers are so helpful when brewing i think somebody who is new to brewing should get in the habbit of using one
The best way to ensure a long primary is to ignore the hydrometer, and just leave the beer in the primary for three weeks to a month. How many threads do we see where new brewers are cracking their fermenter every 12 hours to take a gravity? How necessary is it? For kit/extract brewing, OG and FG are all you really need.
Don't get me wrong -- I think a hydrometer is a VERY useful tool -- I just think that for beginners brewing from kits, it would be better to forget the hydrometer, and just let the yeast work for three to four weeks.
Oh, yeah...ask those guys who don't like hydrometers what their efficiency was on their last all grain batch!
My issue, as my last blog adressed, is that inexperienced brewers are more and more, doing things like racking or repitching yeast as a kneejerk "panic" reaction, because they think something's wrong. But for whatever reason they don't use the very tool that will tell them that, more than likely, there is nothing wrong.
They go for a solution, instead of reaching for a tool that will tell them there is or isn't a problem....It's a piece of mind tool if anything.
I believe like learning anything new , you learn the "right way" first, then you "cut corners" after you have nailed the fundamentals.
The sheer number of "is my beer ruined," or "I did this, because of this," or "my yeast is dead," or "stuck fermentation" threads, where
we have to tell the brewer to use the hydrometer proves that the hydrometer isn't thought of as a necessary tool, or it is viewed as "scary" or taking a reading can harm their beer, by the new brewer. (And this is isn't just extract brewers, I had to "remind" a AG n00b to use one.)
I believe that a long primary does negate the need for a lot of Hydro readings, except for the OG and the FG...So that's all I take during the month my beer is in primary. BUT, I also know the fundamentals of brewing too; I know that fermentation can take up to 72 hours to begin, I know that bubbling in airlock, or lack of isn't an indicator of anything, and I know that it is hard to ruin beer....More importantly I know how to RDWHAHB.
I personally think, that if the new brewer has started a "panic" thread, we should continue to suggest something that is from the fundamentals of brewing- like using a hydrometer first, and reassure them that all is well, before we get into our preferred method of doing things....I think in terms of hydrometers, we all can agree that if the brewer is new, and thinks that something is wrong, that the best tool for ascertaining it is the hydrometer, whether or not we use it regularly ourselfs.
We are not the ones started "panic" threads, because our experince has taught us how to read a beer,
but the n00b doesn't have the experience yet to do it. The easiest way to read a beer is with a hydrometer.
There is a big difference between advice and opinion...Most panic threads are looking for advice and reassurance, about a fundamental principle of brewing...not our opinion. We should, I hope be able to tell the difference.
For example, brewer "a" asks a specific question about sanitizing bottles.
Answer 1
"I soak my bottles in a bucket of (prefered sanitizer)"
Answer 2
"I use a vinator with (prefered sanitzer) in it"
Answer 3
"I keg."
Now can you spot the advice and the opinion in these 3 statements?
I left off the oven baking and dishwashing ones not to be more confusing...
answer. 1 & 2 are advice, 3 is opinion. 1 & 2 adress the fundamental way of sanitizing, and the 2 most common ways of doing it.
