Do I need to take a hydrometer reading?

[jlanier01]

If I plan to keep my first batch of beer in the primary for 3 weeks, do I really even need to take a Hydrometer reading? I'm assuming that taking a reading in the first week of fermentation is mostly for brewers who want to rack their beer to a secondary fermenter.

-or

Should I take a reading just prior to bottling so I have an indication as to how strong the beer is?


Thanks,
J

 

[Gildog]

It depends on how much you want to know about your beer, i like to be able to tell people not only what it is but how much alcohol is in it. hydrometers really arent needed if you are willing to give ample time for fermentation to finish.

hydrometer readings will allow you to bottle much earlier, and since im impatient its a must to take readings.

 

[ChshreCat]

Even after three weeks, a fermentation can be stuck. You could have all signs of fermentation for a few days, then they stop and the krausen falls and the beer looks done. Then after you bottle, you get grenades going off. It's always a good idea to use a hydrometer.

 

[Gildog]

ok, i admit that there is a CHANCE of bottle bombs, but if you taste it before you bottle it, you can see if you still have to much sugar in the wort. i take hydrometer readings, but i can also taste when its done too.

i recomend sampling the beer during fermentation, but that could just be the alchoholic in me.

 

[WenValley]

You don't HAVE to take a hydrometer reading, lots of beer is made everyday without the aid of a hydrometer.

If you're an extract brewer, with no steeping grains, then a hydrometer might be an option.

If you want to try and understand yeast, attenuation, fermentation, and a host of other brewing processes a hydrometer is pretty essential. Just as monitoring the fermentation temperatures, the specific gravity of your brew will tell you valuable information regarding your specific brewing process.

Most people that I know think hydro readings are a critical part of the process and wouldn't want to brew without taking and recording various gravity reading during the process.

Hydrometers are cheap and easy to use, plus you get to drink the samples.

Good Luck...

 

[Bob]

Tasting is not a reliable method of determining the progress of the ferment.

Even if you brew the same recipe over and over and over and have trained your taste buds to note subtle differences, the human sensory organs are not equipped to determine the difference between 1.015 and 1.012. And that's all it takes to make the difference between great finished beer and glass grenades.

Now complicate matters by brewing different styles, different recipes, never brewing the same recipe twice much less back to back. Even the best-trained palate won't be able to determine a minor yet crucial difference in FG.

Trust me. You really can't taste it. Use your hydrometer, no matter what.

Regards,

Bob

 

[Revvy]

If you are going to do the nervous noob thing and worry that since you didn't see airlock activity or little fairies hovering around your fermenter, you don't have fermentation, then yes, if you really want to know what's happenning, then yeah take one around the 7th or 10th day.

If you are going to excercise some trust in the yeasties, and since you are already waiting 3-4 weeks before bottling, then you can do what I do, take a hydro reading on brew day to determine your OG, then again after 3 (since that's how long you said you were planning to leave it) weeks, if it's in the target range and you want to bottle it then, you have now figured out the FG of the beer, which you can use to determine the abv of the beer, plus attenuation.

If you realize what a hydrometer's purpose is, that's it's your diagnostic tool if you think something's wrong (which it rarely ever is) , that it is your fermentation gauge as opposed to your airlock- you use THAT before you cry "is my beer ruined" or "should I re-pitch"- Then use it on as at needed basis.

I get down a lot of new brewers, because they think about reaching for a pack of yeast BEFORE they think or reaching for their hydrometer, when they start those kinds of threads. Actually using something other than their eyes or assumptions about airlocks to tell them what's going on.

By leaving your beer 3-4 weeks, besides all the reasons we have discussed on here ad nauseum, you are giving the beer long enough (usually) to finish fermenting, which a lot of first time brewers are too impatient to do.

You don't have to use a hydrometer at all to make beer (but that usually works out when you have a few batches under your belt, and enough experience to gauge what's happenning at any given time.

On the other side of the coin, you don't need to use your hydrometer , every minute of the day either.

You just need to strike a balance, and know when you should use it.

 

[david_42]

Should I take a reading just prior to bottling so I have an indication as to how strong the beer is?

Doesn't work that way. You need to know the starting gravity and the final gravity.

 

[ajf]

Should I take a reading just prior to bottling so I have an indication as to how strong the beer is?

I usually only take one gravity reading prior to bottling/kegging, and if that gravity reading is what I know it should be, then I go ahead and bottle/keg.
If I don't know what the FG should be, then I take at least 2 readings separated by about 4 days. If those readings are the same, and close to what I think the gravity should be, then I go ahead.
Very occasionally however, everything looks normal, but when I take the reading, it is higher than it should be. In those cases, I rouse the beer and leave it to ferment for another week or so, and try again.
The point behind all this rambling, is don't commit to bottling before you check the gravity. Another day or so between checking the gravity and bottling won't hurt anything.

-a.

 

[funkadelicturkey]

i brew/bottle all the time without using a hydrometer. brew rack to secondary 1-2 weeks later, bottle 4-8 weeks later. Started with my hydrometer breaking, I had a couple extract kits and didn't want to drive 60 miles to MLHBS . I bought another hydrometer but haven't used it. So far no bombs...anyone on here ever have bottles explode or caps fail due to bottling unfinished beer?

 

[mattmcl]

Nope, not in 20 years. I've yet to find two hydrometers that give the same reading at the same time. I have a refractometer, but I only use it to figure out my mash efficiency, and even that gives inconsistent readings.

I can't remember ever using either one to check for bottling time.

 

[Bob]

anyone on here ever have bottles explode or caps fail due to bottling unfinished beer?

Yes. It sucks. Mightily.

 

[jlanier01]

Thanks for all of the great feedback.

I took a reading just before pitching the yeast of both of my batches.

The English Brown Ale had a reading of 1.4 on 10/18/09. (recommended range was 1.045-1.049)

The Imperial Pale Ale had a reading of 1.3 on 10/20/09. (recommended range was 1.081 - 1.085) The IPA is in a plastic Better Bottle carboy.. I think my sample was not properly stirred.

What technique do you use to get a small sample out of a carboy without siphoning off a bunch of the beer? Do I just need to practice with water?

 

[Revvy]

This is what I use, and it works with both buckets and carboys

And

Here's what I do....

1) With a spray bottle filled with starsan I spray the lid of my bucket, or the mouth of the carboy, including the bung. Then I spray my turkey baster inside and out with sanitizer.

2) remove lid

3) Draw Sample

4) fill sample jar (usualy 2-3 turky baster draws

5)Spray bung or lid with sanitizer again

6) Close lid or bung

6) take reading

It is less than 30 seconds from the time the lid is removed until it is closed again.

Probably less if you have help.

 

[Shooter]

If you are going to do the nervous noob thing and worry that since you didn't see airlock activity or little fairies hovering around your fermenter...

Fairies!!! Hilarious!!!!

 

[Revvy]

Fairies!!! Hilarious!!!!

*ahem* Hey Noob....you haven't been here long...but we HAVE PICTORAL EVIDENCE OF THEM.

And they're HAWT.

(But just don't ask to see pics of the beer gnomes)

*shudders*

 

[Gildog]

Fairies!!! Hilarious!!!!

HEY READ THE QUOTES

 

[dontman]

I like to know the final gravity of my beer so that I can have an accurate measurement of ABV. But if I forget to take that reading I don't worry about it a bit.

Then again, on close to 300 batches of beer I have never had a stuck fermentation or even a fg that varied to any significant degree from what I expected to see. Not even once. And like you mentioned I always wait at least 3 weeks before kegging so I am not in the least worried that it is not done fermenting. Like Revvy mentioned, I have complete trust in my yeast to do their job properly and thoroughly.

Plus, this tends to be one of those do as I say not as I do situations but except for maybe my first or second batch I never take multiple readings over the course of three days to confirm completion of fermentation.

 

[jlanier01]

As a serious Noob homebrewer, it sounds like its in my best interest to take hydro readings, so that if I ever do have an issue with a batch... I will have faith/confidence to make the proper adjustments based on science instead of gut instincts.

BTW: Thanks to the forum's amazing support, I've pitched in for a premium account.

 

[Bob]

A wise decision. Brewing is as much science as art; it's good to know the instruments and how they inform your process.

Have fun!

Bob

 

[Revvy]

As a serious Noob homebrewer, it sounds like its in my best interest to take hydro readings, so that if I ever do have an issue with a batch... I will have faith/confidence to make the proper adjustments based on science instead of gut instincts.

BTW: Thanks to the forum's amazing support, I've pitched in for a premium account.

The only way to truly know what is going on in your fermenter is with your hydrometer. Like I said here in my blog, which I encourage you to read, Think evaluation before action you sure as HELL wouldn't want a doctor to start cutting on you unless he used the proper diagnostic instuments like x-rays first, right? You wouldn't want him to just take a look in your eyes briefly and say "I'm cutting into your chest first thing in the morning." You would want them to use the right diagnostic tools before the slice and dice, right? You'd cry malpractice, I would hope, if they didn't say they were sending you for an MRI and other things before going in.....

It's the same way with your beer...The hydrometer is your diagnostic tool...

 

[budbo]

Nope, not in 20 years. I've yet to find two hydrometers that give the same reading at the same time. I have a refractometer, but I only use it to figure out my mash efficiency, and even that gives inconsistent readings.

I'm the same, I generally use the hydrometer after mashing to check efficiency, then if I think about it I'll take a reading while kegging.

 

[peripatetic]

I think the bottom line is that once you are completely comfortable with the whole process and have done it a lot, you can probably make an informed decision about whether or not you feel a hydrometer reading is necessary. Until then, just do it -- it isn't difficult, and it is a great way to get a feel for what is happening during the days and weeks of fermentation.