Big Ol' SNAFU

Brewed an all grain Weizen last week.(Bee Cave Weizen). Its been 8 days and fermentation stopped after the third day. EdWort's recipe calls for an F.G. of 1.009. Well, I had a brain fart and I primed my batch before I took a hydrometer reading. The reading was 1.019!

To make this situation more stressful, I was also brewing an all grain Oktoberfest. The mash was 90 minutes, so I thought I had just enough time to bottle the weizen. I went ahead and bottled it.

Do I have ticking time bombs in my basement now? Did the corn sugar throw off the FG reading? I've had a couple of homebrews now and the stress level has gone down.

 

As long as fermentation was completed you should be OK, but always use a hydrometer to confirm fermentation is complete. Expected FG is not the same as FG in reality.
Being a nice wheat beer you should be able to open a bottle every three days to see if your getting grenades and call over some friends to help you diffuse them if you are.

 

If you keg this is not so much a concern because it will finish out anyway and any excessive pressure can be bled off.

Bottles require that you know the beer is finished because there is no second chance. A hydrometer reading is a must.

 

WBC, I don't have 20+ years of brewing experience, but I would say there's another option. Just be patient, let it sit in the secondary for 3-6 weeks. That's how I started before I even owned a hydrometer! We all know homebrew gets better with age anyway!!! Patience.... or lack there of is the undoing of many a homebrew! If you're patient and aren't brewing real big biers you can get away without a hydrometer, but WBC is right it is a must (just not in all situations). Though you're better off using one. I've found it increases my understanding of what's going on during the ferm. process, and overall understanding.

Schlante,
Phillip

 

I always take a hydro reading, I just got carried away and forgot to take one before I primed. The reading after I primed was 1.019. After digging around and checking my Beertools software, the priming sugar probably boosted the FG by .004-.005. Theoretically I could have a 1.014 FG. I think I'll put the bottled beer in a plastic storage tote in case we have lift off.

On another note, I'm now drinking brian williams' "Death by Dunkel". This is some great stuff! A mild porter taste with loads of maltiness, YUMM!

 

I do not use a hydrometer myself sometimes and let my ales go for 14 days to finish ferment and condition a bit before kegging. I do not use a secondary for ales and that works fine for ales because they are not on the yeast that long. Kegs are very forgiving in that you have full control over the pressure inside.

Bottling and new brewers: I try to suggest a hydrometer for new brewers so they can know that they are not making bottle bombs. You can get away with not using a hydrometer if you wait long enough for fermentation and some conditioning to happen. New brewers do not have any experience and need to learn the value of the hydrometer as well as how to read it and compensate for temperature and liquid volume so the reading is accurate.