4 weeks...have to check sg?

[hd4wes]

I broke my hydrometer, and haven't taken any sg readings. This was my first brew, an extract with specialty grains, and it's been in the primary for 4 weeks come friday. I wanted to bottle at 3 weeks, but didn't have the chance. It may be a stupid question. But, there's no reason I can't bottle now with out checking my gravity 3 days apart. I mean, it has to be done fermenting. Right?
I'm ready to bottle, and taste this stuff.
Thanks,
Wes

 

[TXBeowulf]

No, it doesn't.

The only way to be sure is to test the SG. As it is, you won't be able to tell the ABV (since you don't have a starting SG), but you can still be certain that fermentation is finished if you take a couple readings. Take a trip to your LHBS and buy 2 hydrometers. That way the next time you break one, you still have a spare.

 

[mightynintendo]

It's probably done. Sometimes if i'm being lazy I don't bother checking the gravity at all.

 

[malkore]

As stated, it could very well be done...or it could have gotten stuck.

Since its your first batch, I can't easily just say "taste it" because new/green beer that isn't carb'd yet is going to be hard for an inexperienced brewer to judge. But if you want to, go for it. It shouldn't taste overly sweet, like there's unfermented malt left over, even if its a heavily malt forward beer.

You will need a hydrometer anyways, so depending on how soon you can get that replaced, a few extra days won't hurt anything.

As someone who's bottled prematurely and had then explode in the closet a month later...the entire batch ruined...I always like to sway people to be as patient as they can stand to be

 

[hd4wes]

I know what I need to do, and why. But, if I don't bottle tonight I won't be able to bottle until next Monday, and that would be 4 1/2 weeks in the primary. That's a long time for my first beer. Can I go by the target FG from the kit, and if I'm close to it bottle it. The airlock started bubbling within 24hrs, and quit somewhere around day 4 or 5. I can get a hydrometer, but I'll be out of town the rest of the week.

Thanks

 

[mightynintendo]

Nothing bad will happen to your beer between now and then. 4.5 weeks is not too long on the primary.

 

[Ashz]

Many people on this forum have standard go to recipes that they have repeatedly brewed and have done so for some time. I myself do and on these beers I typically only check final gravity if I have changed, the recipe, the process. Most of these common recipes I do not bother checking the FG.

However this is your first beer. Something may have been off with your process. It should be finished. Is it? I don't know. 4.5 weeks is perfectly fine to wait to get the hydrometer and check that it's actually done. This is the only way to be sure it's done.

If you are impatient to drink the results of your brew, you should weigh the benefits vs. the risk of bottling it prematurely.

 

[davesrose]

If this beer fermented at room temperature, the chances are good that it's done. When you get more experienced, you'll find that you can get better and faster ferments (IE more attenuation) by having a healthy yeast cell count, plenty of aeration in the wort, and staying within the temperature range that's recommended by the yeast manufacturer. But these are things to think about when you're not focusing on the necessary basic stuff (like keeping everything sanitized). It doesn't hurt to take a sanitized turkey baster and sample the beer now (take a gravity reading as well as tasting the sample). If it's a good tasting beer and within the recipe's expected FG...then you should be good to bottle.

 

[HexKrak]

Too many things could have happened to cause the beer to stall, or slow. You SHOULD be safe, but if you're not, you're asking for bottle bombs without even knowing. I've been in the same situation, luckily I have a LHBS only 10 minutes out of the way on my route home.

 

[hd4wes]

Ok, I bought two hydrometers, checked my sg, and sampled last night. Tasted like beer with no carbonation. Couldn't really taste any sweetness, or off flavors. SG was 1.0125. The kit says FG should be 1.01-1.012. I'm not sure if the SG will change in one day, but if SG hasn't changed I'm gonna bottle tonight.

 

[HexKrak]

Safest way is 3 day testing, but admittedly, if I'm in my target range after 3 weeks in standard ferm temp range I feel pretty good about bottling.
If i was in your position I'd bottle too!!

 

[TXBeowulf]

I'd keep testing through the week and bottle on Saturday, but that's just because I got no time to bottle during the week. You're probably good to go.

 

[malkore]

Ok, I bought two hydrometers, checked my sg, and sampled last night. Tasted like beer with no carbonation. Couldn't really taste any sweetness, or off flavors. SG was 1.0125. The kit says FG should be 1.01-1.012. I'm not sure if the SG will change in one day, but if SG hasn't changed I'm gonna bottle tonight.

it sounds fine. you're at the estimated final gravity with plenty of time in primary.
If it was me I would not be worried about not testing it 3 days in a row. That gravity ain't moving.