So last week a bought my first kit, Nothing fancy (Geordie Scottish export) but what puzzle me is that the Specific gravity is 1.000 which is strange since it's still bubbling from the airlock and you can clearly see it bubbling when taking a sample (the hyrdrometer works properly ), the Alcohol measuring meter show 0% so what should I do here? Is the brew done for? Just keep waiting? Add new yeast?
First brew conundrum
- Thread starter Rakez
- Start date
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Check your hydrometer calibration by placing it in water. It should read 1.000. It should not read 1.000 in beer. The hydrometer may be off calibration or you aren't adding enough beer to the sample vessel to float the hydrometer.
Forget the 0% alcohol reading, that is for another purpose and does not pertain to beer.
Forget the 0% alcohol reading, that is for another purpose and does not pertain to beer.
If it's bubbling, it's fermenting. Let it be, no need to add or do anything right now.
Biscuits
Well-Known Member
Did the hydrometer come as part of a beer brewing kit or did you buy it seperately? Check to make sure it is a beer hydrometer...there are other types of hydrmetersthat are calibrated for different things.
Make sure your hydrometer is the right kind. Make sure that it reads 1.000 in water. Distilled is the most accurate though I just use tap water. Check for the calibration temperature for the hydrometer. It should be printed on the paper in the bulb section. Get your sample to that temperature for an accurate reading. There are calculators online for temperature correction.
For the beer let it ferment for at least 10 days. I always go 2 weeks. Then take a reading, wait 24 hours or more and take another reading and if you get the same gravity it is safe to bottle.
1.000 is not right for a beer. Something is wrong. You need to find out what is wrong.
For the beer let it ferment for at least 10 days. I always go 2 weeks. Then take a reading, wait 24 hours or more and take another reading and if you get the same gravity it is safe to bottle.
1.000 is not right for a beer. Something is wrong. You need to find out what is wrong.
While I'm not yet experienced enough to say for certain I'm now quite sure something went wrong in the fermenter, bough a second hyrdrometer and it too show 1.000 ( made sure it worked properly in water ) not only that but the foam forming on top of the brew is not a nice beer foam but looks like the foam that forms in dishwashing soap, add to that a rather uninviting scent ( I actually got dizzy when I opened the fermenter ) should I start over? I guess most people make mistakes the first time and would rather start over than keep something that has probably gone wrong
I call B.S. 1.000 not 0.998 or 1.002? Seems like someone messing with people who want to help out. I read a post from Yooper a while back that said certain readings with a hydrometer below 1.000 are not possible and 1.000 with active fermentation? I could be wrong but just not buying what you’re selling.
1.000 doesn't sound right at all, especially after 1 week.
Can you link us to that kit?
What yeast did you use?
Please post a picture of the beer in the fermentor. What the beer surface looks like can be an important telltale.
Have you tasted the beer from your hydrometer samples yet?
There's CO2 in the headspace above the beer, a good noseful can indeed knock you about out. Fermentation smells are often unpleasant, and tell very little about the beer underneath.
What did you use for sanitizer? What is you sanitation process?
Gemadrken
Well-Known Member
What was the original gravity?
How long has this been fermenting. If less than 10 days or so, leave it alone until then. Some fermentations don't look good, or smell good. If you can take a picture maybe someone can determine if it is infection. I put my beers in the fermentation chamber. Check once the next day, then it stays closed for 14 days or longer.
catdaddy66
Well-Known Member
Well... I know that I have had a saison finish at .996 so it is possible. I even asked if it was possible and a few members confirmed that it was. I have no agenda (not "selling" anything) here, just trying to share my personal experience.
I was going to let that slide as his B.S. remark added the extra weight. But since you brought it up, absolutely, it's not utopia. It takes Brett or some voracious bacteria a few years to knaw it down like that though.
I know you and would have to wonder what the deal was if you posted this. If it was you, I would assume there was some strange set of circumstances that caused you to believe this happened to you. I’m not saying it’s impossible to hit low numbers, but this isn’t a Saison. Also, you hit .996 which isn’t exactly 1.000 (which I find odd). And I’d wager that your Saison was not actively fermenting when you made your post. Admittedly I am suspicious by nature, but the facts as stated by the OP don’t add up and so for me I call B.S. If I’m wrong and there are forthcoming pics that identifyingly demonstrate these strange claims, then I’ll be the first to admit my error.
Trying to get this back on track to not discourage a new brewer....
@Rakez, obviously, the reading you are reporting is out of the normal expected reading. This does not mean dump the beer yet!! It just means we need some additional information to help you.
- Did you take a gravity reading before fermentation started? What was that reading?
- Can you take a picture and post it of the top of the beer and this foam you described?
- Can you take another sample and take a picture with the hydrometer so we can see it as you are?
- What was the recipe (list of ingredients, not just the name of it if possible)?
- What yeast did you use? Was it liquid or dry? Did you make a starter or rehydrate the yeast?
- What temperature is the fermenter in?
- Did you sanitize the equipment before and during the brew day, espically the fermenter?
Help us help you.
@Rakez, obviously, the reading you are reporting is out of the normal expected reading. This does not mean dump the beer yet!! It just means we need some additional information to help you.
- Did you take a gravity reading before fermentation started? What was that reading?
- Can you take a picture and post it of the top of the beer and this foam you described?
- Can you take another sample and take a picture with the hydrometer so we can see it as you are?
- What was the recipe (list of ingredients, not just the name of it if possible)?
- What yeast did you use? Was it liquid or dry? Did you make a starter or rehydrate the yeast?
- What temperature is the fermenter in?
- Did you sanitize the equipment before and during the brew day, espically the fermenter?
Help us help you.
