So i stopped taking gravity measurements

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Do you still take gravity measurements?

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Jako

Jako

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I can't be the only one. I stopped because its a extra step and i don't need to know the exact ABV.

Share why you do or don't below!
 
I stopped at one point. It just didn't matter much to me and I had been repeating a few recipes that didn't change much.

I started again after joking a local homebrew club. The need to communicate with other members about brews made the information worth having.
 
^^^ +1, but with your LCD flow metered kegerator, i'm surprised you don't have a 'tilt'....lol (damn, late)


edit: i usually just shoot for a consistent 1.060 OG for calorie counting reasons.....so i take a reading at.....well, now that i think about it, i take a reading at pre-boil, post boil, and being that i add gluco to all my beers, and sometimes in a hurry to get them kegged, so if they start bubbling slow, i'll make sure their at least 1.002 before kegging
 
Last edited:
Not to say the Tilt didn't catch my attention, but if I don't feel the need to track fermentation gravity they're a pricey extra - especially when I have four fermentors running (I can math. It's a lot :))

Cheers!
 
Jako said:
I can't be the only one. I stopped because its a extra step and i don't need to know the exact ABV.

Share why you do or don't below!
Click to expand...

its not so much that you dont need to know the abv. its so you can tell when its done . When the gravity is stabilized . You cant rely simply on airlock activity. It could sit there for 2 weeks and be stalled . If you were to bottle it at that point thinking it is finished and it restarts(and it will), you'll have bottle bombs.
If there was any step to eliminate ,for me ,it wouldnt be that one.
 
I BIAB and I keg. I take a reading after the mash and after the boil just to keep track of my efficiency, but I've mainly stopped taking FG. Most of my beers are in the 1.060 range, and I always have blowoff activity for a few days before it dies down. I put it in my keezer around day 10, so it's been about a week since the activity subsided. Maybe at some point I'll get a batch that stalls, but as long as it tastes fine I won't worry about it.
 
I typically don't care about ABV, but the curiosity would kill me! I take gravity pre-boil, post-boil, and at packaging, never during fermentation anymore.
 
No need if you’re kegging. If your bottling, then probably A good idea to make sure you’re at FG so you don’t end up with bottle bombs.

i still almost always check my OG just to make sure my efficiency is as expected.

I’ve been brewing for 15+ years and never had a stalled batch.
 
I don't take measurements to know the ABV. I take measurements during brewing to see if I am getting the conversion expected. If off, I can make corrections for the next batch.

I then take one measurement at packaging time to 1) confirm I don't have a stalled fermentation. 2) I can calculate ABV if I want to. If the measurement is close to the predicted FG, I continue. Once it showed fermentation had stalled and I roused the yeast, warmed it up a little and the gravity over the next week dropped another 15 points. If I hadn't taken the measurement I would have surely created bottle bombs.
 
With beer I never take readings during fermentation. I take a refractometer reading post boil, and one hydrometer reading after fermentation, when it's being kegged.

I always give beer at least 2 weeks in the fermenter, so I'm checking to see how it finished, not when it's finished.

With mead, I take daily readings during the first week or so to gauge when to make nutrient additions.
 
I take refract readings pre- and post- boil, as well as FG. Mainly because I keep a brew log and like to look for trends, and perhaps adjust the boil time if I come up a little light somehow. It's quick and easy, and I'm not sure I'd still do it if I had to pull and cool hydrometer samples. I know the refractometer is a little suspect for FG even with alcohol adjustments - I'm more interested in seeing it's stable than knowing the precise (ok slightly more precise) ABV

I do have a tilt, but typically have a couple of fermenters going at the same time. I try to reserve it for beers that have a bio-transformation dry hop schedule if I plan well in advance, or just toss it in when it's free otherwise :)
 
I do because its fun! The kids get a great science lesson and I get to drink the beer out of the hydrometer flask at different stages.

I also intentionally mess with my beers and their ABV. What a fun way to learn.
 
IMO, there are two reason I continue to take gravity.

  1. OG to ensure you don't have a process problem. I found that I consistently have problems with wheat malt and am modifying my mash schedule because of it
  2. FG to make sure the beer is actually done. I've never had a problem with this yet, but it also provides a small sample to taste before moving to the keg.
 
I take first runnings readings to check conversion. I take second runnings, pre-boil and post-boil readings to track the various efficiency values.

Then I take one when I keg. If it's stalled, I'd still keg it and try to restart the fermentation in the keg.

Ultimately, I want to track efficiency and ABV to verify consistency.

I also carefully measure strike and sparge volumes, record first runnings, second runnings, pre-boil, post-boil and in-the-ferm volumes. I've done that for every batch of beer I've brewed and don't plan to stop. It's easy and provides a great frame of reference to double check if one batch doesn't come out the same as another.

That being said, I don't care what others do other than the fact that I don't want bottles from someone who bottle conditions and doesn't take a FG reading. That's a ticking time bomb and I don't want it in my house.
 
Pretty much OG and FG, nothing in-between. If I'm doing something radical or experimental, I'll pull a sample with 5-10 minutes left in the boil, chill it down and see what I've got.
 
LittleRiver said:
With beer I never take readings during fermentation. I take a refractometer reading post boil, and one hydrometer reading after fermentation, when it's being kegged.

I always give beer at least 2 weeks in the fermenter, so I'm checking to see how it finished, not when it's finished.

With mead, I take daily readings during the first week or so to gauge when to make nutrient additions.
Click to expand...

I do the same but I use a hydrometer for both. The only time I take multple readings during the brewday is if I've changed something and want to know if it is affecting the efficiency, for future planning.
 
I've stopped verifying my refractometer readings with a hydrometer. The Novotny Quadratic method for refractometers is getting me close enough.
 
I use the refractometer during the boil and maybe check final gravity with a hydrometer.
Sometimes I just taste it and if it's good I PKG and enjoy.
 
For all grain I'll check OG & FG for efficiency.
But when I do extract during the winter in the warm house, I'll only check final to avoid bottle bombs.
 
I take OG and FG readings on all of my brews.
I don't care as much as ABV as I do about brewhouse efficiency, I want to know what the things that I do change my efficiency and taking readings is the only way I know how.
 
Usually just FG. I don't care specifically about a measured abv, approximate is close enough for me. I just like to be sure fg is stable.
 
I still take OG readings just to make sure I haven't had any weird efficiency problems, although even this is starting to seem frivolous because 99% of the time I end up with an OG that is within 1 point of the Beersmith prediction.

If I'm using familiar yeast and a repeat recipe, there is no real point to taking FG readings. Give the beer 10 or so days to ferment at controlled temperature, and if by that time the krausen has dropped, assume it's done. After reconfirming this fact dozens of times using hydro samples, you just start taking it for granted.

If I'm doing a completely new recipe - especially if it's high OG or some new-to-me yeast - then I'll do FG checks and write them down for future reference.
 
I'm the opposite...for years I never bothered with any gravity measurements. I knew it would be beer when it was done. I didn't care about the ABV. I just made recipes and drank em...they tasted good. Whatever the recipe said the ABV would be I just accepted it.

Now I do OG and FG and even SG when I remember. More to see how good my mash conversion and efficiency is...

But in the end, the only thing that mattered then and now is how it tastes...
 
odie said:
I'm the opposite...for years I never bothered with any gravity measurements. I knew it would be beer when it was done. I didn't care about the ABV. I just made recipes and drank em...they tasted good. Whatever the recipe said the ABV would be I just accepted it.

Now I do OG and FG and even SG when I remember. More to see how good my mash conversion and efficiency is...

But in the end, the only thing that mattered then and now is how it tastes...
Click to expand...

What are you calling SG? Original Gravity and Final Gravity are both Specific Gravity measurements.
 
I have 2 hydrometers and I couldn't tell you where they are. I used to use them when making wine from juices and fruit because it wasn't a kit and you needed to know if you had enough of this or that and the yeast was so unpredictable it was kind of necessary. Once I started brewing beer kits I forgot all about it. I trust that the OG will be what it is supposed to be based on the measured ingredients and following the recipe. I can tell when a fermentation is done-done. Never had a stuck batch or anything turn out wrong that wasn't my own fault. I've had one batch with a bottle bomb, Belgian Trippel, but it was the last bottle I filled that probably had the most priming sugar in it and was a different bottle than the rest cause I used the good ones first. And I was brewing at someone else's house and had to bottle when he was available instead of when I thought it was time.

Beer has been brewed for a thousand years with zero gadgets and scant sanitation. I got over the geek speak part of brewing years ago. I just let the brew do the talkin. Numb lips and frothy grins tell me all I need to know about ABV.
 
I usually take and jot down (pre-fermentation) gravity readings with a refractometer:
  • 1st and 3rd (last) runnings from the mash tun.
    • If a new recipe, all 3 runnings as well as their approx. lautered volumes
  • pre-boil - all runnings combined while it's heating up to the boil
  • during the boil - once or twice
  • post-boil - after chilling
During fermentation, with a hydrometer:
  • Mostly to estimate the 80-90% attenuation point for adding dry hops, syrups, or warming up to finish out and condition.
  • Active fermentation samples are usually suck-siphoned out through a skinny 3/16" hose. Used for gravity and tasting.
  • Often taken under CO2 (streaming in).
Since I'm kegging I often forget to take an FG. It's not that important to me, it can't be changed anyway.
 
I keep breaking the tool. In 13 years of brewing I almost never have taken OG; sometimes take FG after I buy a new device and before I break it again. Currently in a non-measurment period.
 
I always measure. I'm a numbers guy, and like to know exactly where I'm at, so I always do it. Switching from a refractometer back to a hydrometer for everything though. Mostly because mine broke, but accounting for the fudge factor which made it seem less precise anyway.
 
kh54s10 said:
What are you calling SG? Original Gravity and Final Gravity are both Specific Gravity measurements.
Click to expand...

SG is starting gravity I thought? gravity of the wort collected. so you can calculate mash efficiency or see how much potential sugars you were able to extract from the grains?
 

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