My first batch has been in the primary for 6 days and the airlock has slowed to a bubble every 30'seconds or so. I was thinking of taking a gravity reading. Should I do so? And is so if I draw some beer out with a turkey Baster and take a reading, should I poor the beer back in fermenter? Drink it? Poor it out?
Gravity reading?
- Thread starter bel
- Start date
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Kjm06
Well-Known Member
bel said:
I would wait longer. Don't pour the sample back in. You can taste the sample with no worries
I'm no expert i do have about 5 batches under my belt that have been turning out good i still ask crazy questions on these forums so i'm no pro but i do beleave i know the answers to these questions seeing how i have asked them before wait another week before u take a sample especially after only 6 days and your airlock is still bubbling and i have heard never pour your sample back in when u do test just drink it thats what i do and a clean sanitized turkey baster should be more then fine when its time to take a reading
Thanks. Once I take reading in another week to ten days, should I rack to secondary or just leave in primary? My home brew shop owner said definitely rack to secondary but everyone on this site seems to stay away from secondary. Any suggestions?
Captain Damage
Well-Known Member
The only reason to take a gravity reading while the beer still shows signs of fermentation is curiosity. And while curiosity is a noble endeavor, in this case I advise against it. First of all, it's not going to give you any useful information. Even if you learn how close it is to your expected final gravity, the reading gives you no predictive power to estimate when it will actually be done. You can't (read: shouldn't) do anything to speed up or stop fermentation at this point; you just need to let it finish. Tasting it at this point, will let you know what still-fermenting beer tastes like, but will not give an accurate representation of the final beer.
Secondly, the more times you open your fermenter for readings, the more opportunities you have for contamination and oxidation. Wait until all signs of fermentation have stopped for at least a couple of days before taking your reading. If you're using carboys, it's pretty obvious: the krausen has fallen and the beer starts clearing. If you're using a bucket, your main indicator is the airlock - even tough we keep saying the airlock is not a reliable indicator of fermentation activity. You can open the lid just enough to peek in. If the top of the beer looks like dirty foam, that's the krausen, and it's still fermenting. If it looks like beer, go ahead and take your reading.
I would be remiss not to mention that many of us experienced brewers are advocating "long primary" fermentation, where we leave all of our beers in the fermenters for three or four weeks before even taking a hydrometer reading. This is still a little controversial, and until just a few years ago it was considered something you should never, ever do, but many of us (myself included) have seen great improvements. What are the advantages? For almost all beers, fermentation is guaranteed to be done at 3 weeks, so there's no guessing about whether or not it's done; the yeast has plenty of time to clean up certain off-flavor byproducts of fermentation; the trub layer at the bottom of the fermenter will compact making it easier to rack the beer away without getting a lot of gunk; particulates will continue to fall out of the beer in the fermenter making your final cold-conditioned beer clearer with less bottle trub.
When you do take a reading, you can pour it back in as long as you are scrupulous about your sanitation. I rinse my test cylinder in Star San, rinse the hydrometer in Star San, use Star San to start the siphon with which I take the sample, keep the airlock and stopper in my bucket of Star San while I'm taking the sample, and spray the mouth of my carboy with Star San before and after I siphon out the sample. After I've taken the reading, I pour all but about two ounces of the sample back in the carboy, and drink the remainder.
Secondly, the more times you open your fermenter for readings, the more opportunities you have for contamination and oxidation. Wait until all signs of fermentation have stopped for at least a couple of days before taking your reading. If you're using carboys, it's pretty obvious: the krausen has fallen and the beer starts clearing. If you're using a bucket, your main indicator is the airlock - even tough we keep saying the airlock is not a reliable indicator of fermentation activity. You can open the lid just enough to peek in. If the top of the beer looks like dirty foam, that's the krausen, and it's still fermenting. If it looks like beer, go ahead and take your reading.
I would be remiss not to mention that many of us experienced brewers are advocating "long primary" fermentation, where we leave all of our beers in the fermenters for three or four weeks before even taking a hydrometer reading. This is still a little controversial, and until just a few years ago it was considered something you should never, ever do, but many of us (myself included) have seen great improvements. What are the advantages? For almost all beers, fermentation is guaranteed to be done at 3 weeks, so there's no guessing about whether or not it's done; the yeast has plenty of time to clean up certain off-flavor byproducts of fermentation; the trub layer at the bottom of the fermenter will compact making it easier to rack the beer away without getting a lot of gunk; particulates will continue to fall out of the beer in the fermenter making your final cold-conditioned beer clearer with less bottle trub.
When you do take a reading, you can pour it back in as long as you are scrupulous about your sanitation. I rinse my test cylinder in Star San, rinse the hydrometer in Star San, use Star San to start the siphon with which I take the sample, keep the airlock and stopper in my bucket of Star San while I'm taking the sample, and spray the mouth of my carboy with Star San before and after I siphon out the sample. After I've taken the reading, I pour all but about two ounces of the sample back in the carboy, and drink the remainder.
Captain Damage
Well-Known Member
Skip the secondary unless you're racking onto fruit.
