Can you measure the gravity of beer after conditioned? | HomeBrewTalk.com - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Community.

Homebrew Talk

Help Support Homebrew Talk by donating:

  1. Dismiss Notice
  2. We have a new forum and it needs your help! Homebrewing Deals is a forum to post whatever deals and specials you find that other homebrewers might value! Includes coupon layering, Craigslist finds, eBay finds, Amazon specials, etc.
    Dismiss Notice

Can you measure the gravity of beer after conditioned?

Discussion in 'Beginners Beer Brewing Forum' started by naivenavila, Aug 30, 2012.

 

  1. #1
    naivenavila

    Member

    Posted Aug 30, 2012
    Does anyone know if you get an accurate gravity reading after the beer has been bottled?
     
  2. #2
    jbaysurfer

    Former future HOF Brewer  

    Posted Aug 30, 2012
    degass it completely and take your reading. But if you don't degass it completely you'll get a high reading because of the carbonation.
     
  3. #3
    naivenavila

    Member

    Posted Aug 30, 2012
    Awesome! Thanks!!!
     
  4. #4
    TopherM

    Well-Known Member

    Posted Aug 30, 2012
    Why do you NEED a FG reading? It kinda is what it is at this point. I'd just ride it out and drink it.
     
  5. #5
    naivenavila

    Member

    Posted Aug 30, 2012
    I just wanted to see if there would be a different reading from my final reading. Just kind of curious if it ended up at what it was suppose to.
     
  6. #6
    hansen_sh

    Active Member

    Posted Aug 30, 2012
    Are you thinking that the priming sugar would have altered it or did you not check it before bottling?
     
  7. #7
    naivenavila

    Member

    Posted Aug 31, 2012
    I did check before bottling but I wanted to see if it would read the same. I'm kinda new at this so I was wondering if the abv calculation I got was actually right. Does that make sense?
     
  8. #8
    signpost

    Well-Known Member

    Posted Aug 31, 2012
    Most likely, your new reading will end up being the same as it was before bottling (as long as you've given the yeast time to carb properly). However, in order to calculate an accurate ABV, you'd need to adjust your OG number based on how much sugar you added for priming. I'm not completely sure, but I have a feeling the amount of sugar used for priming (even for more highly carbonated styles) isn't enough to change the ABV by more than a tenth of a percent or so. Is there an expert that can tell us different?
     
  9. #9
    TopherM

    Well-Known Member

    Posted Aug 31, 2012
    All in all, what you are proposing really doesn't make much sense. It is WAYYYYY more trouble than it's worth to get some information that isn't going to really do you any good.
     
  10. #10
    NordeastBrewer77

    NBA Playa  

    Posted Aug 31, 2012
    Oh c'mon, I did the same thing when I started brewing. No harm in seeing something for yourself, regardless if the information is useful or not, some of us are the "just have to know" type. OP, when I did this, which I did once, the FG of the bottled (degassed) beer was ~.01 lower than my recorded FG. Mind you, this is with a floating hydrometer, so my readings aren't perfect, and there may have been no difference at all. YMMV.
     
  11. #11
    Koffie

    Well-Known Member

    Posted Aug 31, 2012
    Refermantation in the bottle with a little sugar (8 gram/liter) would give something like 0.4 % alcohol and 3 SG points extra to your beer.

    edit: That doesn't sound right .. during the refermantation the yeast will eat the extra suar / 3 points. So alcohol would go up and the 3 extra points will go down back to what it was.
     
  12. #12
    SeattleMatt

    Well-Known Member

    Posted Aug 31, 2012
    You don't even need the OG if you have a refractometer, hydrometer and beer smith. Degas a bottle, take a reading with both the refractometer and hydrometer and beer smith will give you the OG and ABV. It's pretty consistent with my measurements. The only thing you have to lose is carbonation. Flat beer is still good.
     
Draft saved Draft deleted

Share This Page

Group Builder