When to check gravity

Brewed my first batch Saturday, it's a wit. Saturday night the air lock was slowly bubling , Sunday it was roaring and now tonight it's bubling much slower. When should check the gravity and move to secondary?

You're going to want to let it finish fermenting before transferring over to the secondary. Give it at least a week, but two would probably be better. Are you going to be adding coriander/orange peel to the secondary?

a.) Don't bother with secondary on a Wit. You really only need to use secondary on beers that use additions like fruit/coffee/chocolate/booze/etc. Any other time, it's a waste of time. The beer will actually benefit from extended times on the yeast.

b.) Speaking of extended times on the yeast... leave your beer in primary for a few weeks minimum. Two weeks will be perfect for a nice clean Wit. After two weeks has passed, take a hydrometer reading. The more you get impatient and play with the beer, the greater the chances that you'll infect it.

c.) Did you check the gravity pre-fermentation?

YEah it was 1.04 but it was a little foamy I couldn't get a good reading and it actually got cold real fast and end up being like 53 degrees. So I'll check it in 2 weeks a couple days in a row if it's the same bottle? Also when I'm checking it do I put the hydrometer in the bucket? Does the bubling seem ok for this type of beer?

Metsbrew said:

YEah it was 1.04 but it was a little foamy I couldn't get a good reading and it actually got cold real fast and end up being like 53 degrees. So I'll check it in 2 weeks a couple days in a row if it's the same bottle? Also when I'm checking it do I put the hydrometer in the bucket? Does the bubling seem ok for this type of beer?

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Don't worry about what the airlock is doing. It has nothing to do with your beer being good or bad. All the airlock does is release gases that are produced during fermentation. Once the beer stops producing lots of gas, it stops releasing it. This doesn't mean your beer is done fermenting.

Some yeast work faster and some slower. I've had some beers take 2 days to fully ferment and some take a month. It all depends on how much yeast you used, and how vigorous the yeast is.

And yes, make sure you check your gravity a few days apart to make sure it's not changing. The worst thing you can do is bottle a beer too early and risk having bottle bombs.

When to check gravity?
I check my gravity when it's going into the fermenter and once more 4 to 6 weeks later when I want to take it out of the fermenter. That's it.

Since this is your first batch and I'm sure you are impatient to try your brew, give a three weeks and bottle. Wait three weeks for it to carbonate and let the drinking begin!

Although I don't use them much, I don't have anything against secondaries but there really isn't any need with a wit.