Unsure problem

[Summers]

This is my first home brew, so I am quickly learning, but none the less I still have a few questions and whom else to turn to but the internet to solve all my life problems.

Brew Facts and History:
Brew date 1/2/15
Extract kit from Northern Brewer the caribou, used Dry yeast
pitched the yeast at 76 degrees, the kit OG is 1.052, I hit 1.052 target FG is 1.016 to 1.014

I placed the glass carboy in the room with air temp being 67, the next morning the airlock was plugged and installed a blow off tube. After two days, I put the air lock back on.
1/17/15 FG was 1.020 beer temp 68, room air temp 67;
1/19/15 FG was 1.018 beer temp 68, room air temp 67;
1/22/15 FG was 1.018 beer temp 68, room air temp 67;
1/22/15 I transfer to the secondary beer temp 68:

Problem:
Well today, 2/3/15, FG was 1.017 beer temp 66, room air temp 65, I went today to check on it and the air lock was bubbling again I pulled the cover off the carboy and there is a layer of foam/bubbles on top again, I wanted to bottle the beer this weekend. However, after seeing activity again in the airlock, I am guessing that I need to wait until whatever is going is finished. The beer is very clear, taste like it has all along, and smells great. Maybe a few others on here can tell me what is going on with this beer.

Thanks for the help

 

[Aonghus]

I think you still have a ways to go to finish up. 1.017 leaves room for additional attenuation. You could also be seeing carbon dioxide coming out of solution (in addition to yeast still happily eating the sugars). You are at the 4 week mark which, with the temperatures you quoted should be mostly done. You may have re-suspended some yeast that had already precipitated to the bottom (when you racked to secondary). That may have restarted the yeast a bit. My advice is to give it another couple of days and then take another gravity reading. Oh and which dry yeast did you use?

 

[Travestian]

Doesn't sound like much of a problem to me. Most likely the CO2 is coming out of solution causing you to see the bubbles. Give it a few more days and see if the SG drops anymore. If it does, keep checking it every few days. If it doesn't then you should be safe to bottle.

 

[Summers]

I used the danstar windsor Yeast with this kit and I double checked the date it was not expired.

 

[eadavis80]

You're fine. When you rack, it usually results in some yeast stirring up a bit and you're getting C02 - that's the layer on top of your beer you're seeing. I'd let it sit in the secondary at least a week, if not two. Wait for the gravity to be the same on readings three days apart and then you should let it sit for several more days after that. If I remember correctly, the Danstar Windsor Ale dried yeast can leave a little higher than normal FG, so you might be very, very close to done. I enjoyed that kit better when I used 1098 Wyeast, FYI. Enjoy the brew and welcome to the addiction!

 

[bragona71]

Im curious why you racked to secondary? did you dry hop? In my experience(little)and research(lots on HBT) you might want to leave in primary. Leaving the beer on the yeast cake will help get FG faster than taking beer off the cake

Welcome to the hobby enjoy!!

 

[kombat]

Disregard Aonghus, he apparently missed the fact that this was an extract brew. At 1.017, it's fully done.

The bubbles you're seeing are just CO2 coming out of solution due to changing temperature and atmospheric pressure (i.e., weather). Go ahead and bottle.

 

[kh54s10]

Disregard Aonghus, he apparently missed the fact that this was an extract brew. At 1.017, it's fully done.

The bubbles you're seeing are just CO2 coming out of solution due to changing temperature and atmospheric pressure (i.e., weather). Go ahead and bottle.

I agree. It is ready to bottle. If you are worried take another reading.

I don't know about everyone else, but I cannot really tell the difference on a hydrometer of .001 change. I feel you are just guessing at anything less than .002 - .003. The scale on a hydrometer is not fine enough to get that degree of accuracy.

 

[DNelson]

.

 

[bragona71]

My first batch was gone by 4 weeks!!!

 

[aprichman]

I agree. It is ready to bottle. If you are worried take another reading.

I don't know about everyone else, but I cannot really tell the difference on a hydrometer of .001 change. I feel you are just guessing at anything less than .002 - .003. The scale on a hydrometer is not fine enough to get that degree of accuracy.

.001 readings are achievable from most hydrometers if you follow these steps: Place the hydrometer tube & sample on a flat surface. Make sure the hydrometer is at eye level (this step is critical to taking an accurate reading and usually means bending down if your hydrometer sample is on a kitchen table or counter). Take your reading from the bottom of the meniscus. Make sure you're taking the reading at the temperature the hydrometer was calibrated to.

 

[kh54s10]

.001 readings are achievable from most hydrometers if you follow these steps: Place the hydrometer tube & sample on a flat surface. Make sure the hydrometer is at eye level (this step is critical to taking an accurate reading and usually means bending down if your hydrometer sample is on a kitchen table or counter). Take your reading from the bottom of the meniscus. Make sure you're taking the reading at the temperature the hydrometer was calibrated to.

I quess you have either a great eye or a hydrometer that has a more refined scale than mine. To tell the difference between 1.010 say, and 1.011 is a guess at best. Especially considering temperature difference in the sample could make that change.

Besides that I just read my instructions and it says to read at the TOP of the meniscus. (where the liquid meets the stem of the hydrometer.)

 

[aprichman]

I use a Fermentors Favorite Triple Scale hydrometer which is a pretty cheap one. My hydrometer (and almost all lab equipment) is calibrated to the bottom of the meniscus but if your hydrometer is calibrated from the top that's where you would want to take the readings.

I don't think I have a particularly good eye just refined technique. I am a chemistry minor so I've had a good deal of experience working in the chemistry lab. I got used to having to take readings accurate to .02mL with .1 graduations on berets, pipettes, etc. Taking a reading that's between the graduations on the hydrometer isn't too hard.

If you're having trouble distinguishing where the top/bottom of the meniscus is lining up to on the hydrometer try using a white note card with a red or black line on it.



Source: http://www.csudh.edu/oliver/demos/buretuse/buretuse.htm

The black streak is produced using a felt tipped pen and offers the student a constant dark reflection against a white background for higher precision in determining relative titrant volumes

 

[Summers]

Well if it helps, I was using a magnifying glass to look at the hydrometer, because I just could not get the best view. After struggling to read the hydrometer I quickly started to do some reading about digital refractometers online. I have my eye on one for my next brew. I figure with the way everyone always talks about taking FG readings, seems to me that the more precise you can get with this reading to tell you more and more about what your beer is doing then why not. In addition, it seems like every time I take a FG reading that is a lot beer being used. Whereas with the digital refractometers three drops and you are done.

Im curious why you racked to secondary? did you dry hop? In my experience(little)and research(lots on HBT) you might want to leave in primary. Leaving the beer on the yeast cake will help get FG faster than taking beer off the cake

Welcome to the hobby enjoy!!

As for why I racked to the secondary, I was just following the instruction sheet that came with the kit. It was not until I started to have a few questions did I find this website and started to read that most people do not use a secondary to brew a beer unless they are dry hopping or adding other ingredients.

I already started a new brew the other day, I have learned a lot in the last month, and picked up a few tools to help make things a little better and a little easier, I tried my hand with a yeast starter and a stir plate with the WLP051 for the IPA extract kit I picked, and an O2 wand for aerating the work. I am sure as things progress with this hobby I will turn to everyone here for help.

Thanks everyone for the insight.

 

[kombat]

Take your reading from the bottom of the meniscus.

Small nitpick: I believe you're actually supposed to read it from the top of the meniscus.

 

[aprichman]

Small nitpick: I believe you're actually supposed to read it from the top of the meniscus.

It would depend on how the hydrometer is calibrated, however I would be hesitant to trust a hydrometer that is calibrated for the "top of the meniscus".

Why?

The top of the meniscus is going to be affected by factors like the surface tension of the liquid and what the container is made out of. Wort that is 1.036 and 1.100 will have different surface tension. The hydrometer has no way of dynamically scaling itself to compensate for the different size of the meniscus.

My hydrometers directions say to "read from bottom of the meniscus" and it's actually printed on the side of the hydrometer itself.

If you want to be sure I'd recommend taking a reading using DI water.

 

[kombat]

I would think as long as you're consistent for both O.G. and F.G., it will be fine. That is, don't read from the top of the meniscus for the O.G., then the bottom for the F.G.

 

[aprichman]

I would think as long as you're consistent for both O.G. and F.G., it will be fine. That is, don't read from the top of the meniscus for the O.G., then the bottom for the F.G.

You should be pretty close but keep in mind any change in surface tension effects the top of the meniscus. When you ferment the sugars into alcohol you are definitely affecting surface tension. The bottom of the meniscus is not affected by these changes which is why instruments tend to be calibrated for it.

Luckily for most of us this isn't a big deal since it's just a hobby. The difference in .001 gravity isn't going to be a huge deal.

 

[aprichman]

Of course if the manufacturer intended for the hydrometer to be read at the top of the meniscus then that will give you more accurate results. Confusing enough yet?

 

[kh54s10]

Well if it helps, I was using a magnifying glass to look at the hydrometer, because I just could not get the best view. After struggling to read the hydrometer I quickly started to do some reading about digital refractometers online. I have my eye on one for my next brew. I figure with the way everyone always talks about taking FG readings, seems to me that the more precise you can get with this reading to tell you more and more about what your beer is doing then why not. In addition, it seems like every time I take a FG reading that is a lot beer being used. Whereas with the digital refractometers three drops and you are done.

Be advised that refractometers do not read accurately with the presence of alcohol so they are not great for taking final gravity readings.

You can use a calculator to make corrections but I have run readings through a couple of the ones online and get different results with each. YMMV. I still use my hydrometer for FG readings.

 

[pablosbrewing]

Bottom of the meniscus.

http://www.homebrewersassociation.org/how-to-brew/how-to-take-an-accurate-hydrometer-reading/

 

[1977Brewer]

Did no one here pay attention in science? You always read from the bottom of the meniscus, as the added volume from reading from the top is not representative of the volume of the liquid that actually reaches the the top. SCIENCE.

 

[kh54s10]

Well, reading the directions from my hydrometer - maybe this does mean the bottom of the meniscus??

"At eye level read the figures on the stem of the hydrometer where the surface of the liquid cuts across the stem." I took this to be where the liquid touches the stem - top of the meniscus.

But still, The difference would probably be about .001. And truly I could care less if my final gravity read something like 1.008 at the top of the meniscus or 1.009 at the bottom.