easy way to get sample?

[bucfanmike]

I am using 6.5 gal buckets and these are my first 2 batches using a refractometer. They have been in the bucket a couple weeks now and I was thinking about a gravity check. Since I need such a small sample and currently have no sanitizer mixed, I was thinking of an idea. I am planning on picking up a few straws from the local fast food place (individually wrapped) and using them to dip thru the airlock hole, to get a small sample for the refractometer. Seems so simple, that there must be a flaw...

Mike in Duluth

 

[KAMMEE]

Mix star san with some distilled water and put in a spraybottle, this will keep for a long time and is easy enough to use on something like a drinking straw before taking a sample.

 

[ceannt]

I use a turkey baster.... I boil it for 15-min. and let it cool first. Just don't use it for anything else! It needs to be a "Dedicated wort sampling device".

 

[Ohio-Ed]

I use a turkey baster.... I boil it for 15-min. and let it cool first. Just don't use it for anything else! It needs to be a "Dedicated wort sampling device".

I use a wine theif for grabbing samples.
I agree with the need to sanitize anything that you use (not sure if I would trust a wrapped straw).

One of the words in the OP is "easy". The problem with a turkey baster or wine thief when using a "Ale Pail" type fermenter is the small airlock hole in the lid. Usually you have to remove the lid...
I used a hole saw and drilled a 1.25" hole in the lids of my buckets, then us a standard stopper in place of the rubber grommet that comes with the buckets. Makes getting samples and racking possible without even removing the lid.

 

[King of Cascade]

Just wait until you bottle to take a sample...If the gravity is not where you want it what could you do about it anyways

 

[Ohio-Ed]

Just wait until you bottle to take a sample...If the gravity is not where you want it what could you do about it anyways

Wait.

Some folks like to check the progress. Some folks use a secondary and need to know when to transfer.

How do you know fermentation is complete and it's ready to bottle? Hitting or missing a target SG does not mean fermentation is finished. When the SG remains stable fermentation is complete. How can you know it's stable without taking samples?

 

[wyzazz]

Ummm, if you are using a bucket just take off the lid, sanitize the test jar and some tongs, and dip the test jar in the bucket to fill it up as full as you need it.

 

[babalu87]

Just wait until you bottle to take a sample...If the gravity is not where you want it what could you do about it anyways

Rouse the yeast
Warm the beer up

 

[IrregularPulse]

Spray bottle star san is the my favorite brewing tool and I could never do without one again. That and a wine thief. for sampling.

 

[King of Cascade]

Wait.

Some folks like to check the progress. Some folks use a secondary and need to know when to transfer.

How do you know fermentation is complete and it's ready to bottle? Hitting or missing a target SG does not mean fermentation is finished. When the SG remains stable fermentation is complete. How can you know it's stable without taking samples?

I guess I feel knowing your yeast is more important then checking numbers

 

[IrregularPulse]

I guess I feel knowing your yeast is more important then checking numbers

How can you get to know your yeast without checking numbers? Yeasts are living things and not predictable. There are several variables to take into account. The only way to KNOW if with the numbers, other than that you are just assuming. And we all know what that does to U and ME

 

[Revvy]

Turkey baster and spray bottle of starsan.

 

[King of Cascade]

Rouse the yeast
Warm the beer up

Most professional brewers like still environments and constant temperatures. Although I do agree with a D rest or a rise in temperatures in certain situations I have never seen yeast roused in 20 barrels of beer.

 

[iijakii]

I've been doing 2.5gal batches now. I primary in my 5gal better bottle and then secondary in my 3gal better bottle. It's a pain to take a sample from my primary... don't think a turkey baster would be long enough. I just used my auto siphon for a split second to get enough out. But of course I made a mess and wasted ~4 oz of delicious stout on my kitchen counters/floor!

 

[King of Cascade]

How can you get to know your yeast without checking numbers? Yeasts are living things and not predictable. There are several variables to take into account. The only way to KNOW if with the numbers, other than that you are just assuming. And we all know what that does to U and ME

How can you get to know your yeast without checking numbers?

Brew More

Yeasts are living things and not predictable.

I disagree...Yeast is very predictable and if you brew consistently you could understand there individual habits. For instance, a proper pitch of American Ale yeast in a 15 Plato beer will be aerobic for 18 hours then go anaerobic for 72 more hours before settling out of solution. You will get anywhere from 73 – 77% attenuation and a 6% alcohol beer.

But this thread isn’t about knowing your yeast so I would say if you want to check your gravity use the turkey baster.

 

[Strave19]

Hahaha, I feel like the original question and point of this thread got totally denied...

I think it sounds like a great way to get a small sample without having to take the lid off... however, I dont know that I'd trust the straws in the paper being free of all microbes. To be safe, I would make up some sanitizer...or even a little diluted bleach if you dont have anything else and soak the tip for a bit. I just wouldnt trust that those things are totally sanitary.

 

[babalu87]

Yeast are predictable at the pro/experienced level

Two things to remember..............maybe three

One: Most homebrewers are full on amateurs

Two: Beer makes the schedule

Three: Homebrewers make better beer

 

[King of Cascade]

Yeast are predictable at the pro/experienced level

Two things to remember..............maybe three

One: Most homebrewers are full on amateurs

Two: Beer makes the schedule

Three: Homebrewers make better beer

One: Most homebrewers are full on amateurs

That is why this is such a good forum but there is a lot of bad advice being given and the more experienced brewers need to correct that.

Two: Beer makes the schedule

True, but brewers make the beer….don’t give up control.

Three: Homebrewers make better beer

Also true but not as consistently….

 

[ceannt]

One of the words in the OP is "easy". The problem with a turkey baster or wine thief when using a "Ale Pail" type fermenter is the small airlock hole in the lid. Usually you have to remove the lid...
I used a hole saw and drilled a 1.25" hole in the lids of my buckets, then us a standard stopper in place of the rubber grommet that comes with the buckets. Makes getting samples and racking possible without even removing the lid.

I use a plastic bucket fermenter.... I just remove the rubber stopper/airlock and my dedicated baster fits in the hole just fine.... maybe my hole is bigger than yours (never thought I would hear myself say that one!) I would not ever take the lid off.....

 

[bucfanmike]

OP here.. I guess things kinda got way off track from where I started. I was mostly wondering if anyone would trust a pre packaged straw, and the consensus seems to be no. I will be mixing some starsan after the weekend to get a couple kegs ready so Ill wait til then to test gravity. And I have used the turkey baster before, but now I went to a refractometer instead of a hydrometer, so I really only need a few drops.

Mike

 

[Revvy]

As one of the "experienced" brewers on here, I personally think it's arrogance to think that we're in charge of the process, and the yeast aren't, AND that yeast are predictable.

There is nothing "typical" in brewing...every fermentation is different, and should not be used to compare one with another...especially if you are a new brewer just starting out.

No two fermentations are ever exactly the same.

When we are dealing with living creatures, there is a wild card factor in play..Just like with other animals, including humans...No two behave the same.

You can split a batch in half put them in 2 identical carboys, and pitch equal amounts of yeast from the same starter...and have them act completely differently...for some reason on a subatomic level...think about it...yeasties are small...1 degree difference in temp to us, could be a 50 degree difference to them...one fermenter can be a couple degrees warmer because it's closer to a vent all the way across the room and the yeasties take off...

Someone, Grinder I think posted a pic once of 2 carboys touching each other, and one one of the carboys the krausen had formed only on the side that touched the other carboy...probably reacting to the heat of the first fermentation....but it was like symbiotic or something...

With living micro-organisms there is always a wildcard factor in play...and yet the yeast rarely lets us down. So it is best just to rdwhahb and trust that they know to what they are doing.

I tell brewers not to assume the worst with the yeast, realize that they've been making beer since long before our great great great grandfather copped his first buzz from a 40 of mickey's out back of the highschool, so they are the experts.

Yeasts are like teenagers, swmbos, and humans in general, they have their own individual way of doing things.

Take the silly 1-2-3 rule for example, if people think that all beers are going to be done in 7 days, is a ridiculous notion that does more harm than good.

If you arbitrarily move your beer, like to follow the silly 1-2-3 rule, you will often interrupt fermentation. Because sometimes the yeast won't even begin to ferment your beer until 72 hours after yeast pitch, so if you rush the beer off the yeast on day 7 then you are only allowing the yeast a few days to work.

Besides, fermenting the beer is just a part of what the yeast do. If you leave the beer alone, they will go back and clean up the byproducts of fermentation that often lead to off flavors. That's why many brewers skip secondary and leave our beers alone in primary for a month. It leaves plenty of time for the yeast to ferment, clean up after themselves and then fall out, leveing our beers crystal clear, with a tight yeast cake.

That's why I say to never go by airlock activity.....or a calender...there's just too many variables that can affect either or those thing.

 

[samc]

I am using 6.5 gal buckets and these are my first 2 batches using a refractometer. They have been in the bucket a couple weeks now and I was thinking about a gravity check. Since I need such a small sample and currently have no sanitizer mixed, I was thinking of an idea. I am planning on picking up a few straws from the local fast food place (individually wrapped) and using them to dip thru the airlock hole, to get a small sample for the refractometer. Seems so simple, that there must be a flaw...

Mike in Duluth

All you need is something like a metal BBQ skewer or similar and let it sit in a pot or tray of boiling water for a minute. Dunk it in and whatever hangs to the bottom of the metal rod is your sample. I use boiling water to sanitize my dry hop bags, and most things I would put into beer. I use StarSan or Iodine based for pre beer stage (Wort).

 

[Ohio-Ed]

OP here.. I guess things kinda got way off track from where I started. I was mostly wondering if anyone would trust a pre packaged straw, and the consensus seems to be no. I will be mixing some starsan after the weekend to get a couple kegs ready so Ill wait til then to test gravity. And I have used the turkey baster before, but now I went to a refractometer instead of a hydrometer, so I really only need a few drops.

Mike

Mike,
I like the idea of using a straw, kind of like a pipette. Just dip it in, cover the end with your finger, and get a small sample... brilliant!!

BUT... I would sanitize the straw first. I buy distilled water in 2.5 gallon "jugs" and add 1/2 an ounce of Starsan to the jug. I then use that jug to fill and re-fill a spray bottle. The Starsan mixed with distilled water will last for a VERY long time.

So... Use the straw, but spray it with Starsan first. Very easy, very fast, next to zero mess.

BTW... I also spray my hands, and I would spray the end of the stopper/grommet before putting it back in the lid.

Ed

 

[bucfanmike]

Mike,
I like the idea of using a straw, kind of like a pipette. Just dip it in, cover the end with your finger, and get a small sample... brilliant!!

BUT... I would sanitize the straw first. I buy distilled water in 2.5 gallon "jugs" and add 1/2 an ounce of Starsan to the jug. I then use that jug to fill and re-fill a spray bottle. The Starsan mixed with distilled water will last for a VERY long time.

So... Use the straw, but spray it with Starsan first. Very easy, very fast, next to zero mess.

BTW... I also spray my hands, and I would spray the end of the stopper/grommet before putting it back in the lid.

Ed

This sounds like exactly the info I was looking for. I had also never mixed star san in a small amount so knowing the 1/2 oz amount is good info. THANKS

Mike

 

[lustreking]

This sounds like exactly the info I was looking for. I had also never mixed star san in a small amount so knowing the 1/2 oz amount is good info. THANKS

Mike

If you get an oral syringe from the baby aisle, 6ml is what you need to mix a gallon. I never do more than a gallon.

 

[Bubba_Mustafa]

what about just some alcohol. (vodka, Iso, etc) and using a bottling wand upside down?

 

[bucfanmike]

what about just some alcohol. (vodka, Iso, etc) and using a bottling wand upside down?

I have no bottling equipment.. Started straight to kegging
Plus having the starsan handy is always a good thing, can use it from time to time for cleaning my taps this way.

Mike

 

[Ohio-Ed]

what about just some alcohol. (vodka, Iso, etc) and using a bottling wand upside down?

A small downside (very small one), is then you have a bottling wand, racking cane, or whatever else you might use to be cleaned.

The straw is disposable, no cleanup!

 

[Bubba_Mustafa]

A small downside (very small one), is then you have a bottling wand, racking cane, or whatever else you might use to be cleaned.

The straw is disposable, no cleanup!

Another item in the landfill. And no guaranty that the straw is sanitized. (plastic wrapped better chance then paper wrapped)

 

[Ohio-Ed]

Mike,

BUT... I would sanitize the straw first. I buy distilled water in 2.5 gallon "jugs" and add 1/2 an ounce of Starsan to the jug. I then use that jug to fill and re-fill a spray bottle. The Starsan mixed with distilled water will last for a VERY long time.

So... Use the straw, but spray it with Starsan first. Very easy, very fast, next to zero mess.

BTW... I also spray my hands, and I would spray the end of the stopper/grommet before putting it back in the lid.

Ed

Another item in the landfill. And no guaranty that the straw is sanitized. (plastic wrapped better chance then paper wrapped)

You appear to have missed part of the conversation...

If you don't WANT to add the straw to the landfill, you always have the option to use the resources required to clean and reuse it