Hello,
I'm relatively new to brewing, and just made my 5th and 6th batches last week. I made a pumpkin ale on Monday, but didn't get any bubble activity on the first day. I waited and eventually there was very slow activity on the third day for a couple hours and that was it. There seem to be thick cream on the top (krausen?) and until a day ago there was pressure within the fermentor. It's a new bucket so maybe it isn't airtight.
My question is, what is the best way to check the gravity inside a bucket? It's an extract so it should be easy to tell if its done. However, when I put the wort in the fermentor, I didn't mix the last bit of top off water well enough and my og sample had a lot of water (I didn't notice since I just set it aside). I fear that if I take a sample off the top it'll have a low reading because it stratified.
Thanks
I'm relatively new to brewing, and just made my 5th and 6th batches last week. I made a pumpkin ale on Monday, but didn't get any bubble activity on the first day. I waited and eventually there was very slow activity on the third day for a couple hours and that was it. There seem to be thick cream on the top (krausen?) and until a day ago there was pressure within the fermentor. It's a new bucket so maybe it isn't airtight.
My question is, what is the best way to check the gravity inside a bucket? It's an extract so it should be easy to tell if its done. However, when I put the wort in the fermentor, I didn't mix the last bit of top off water well enough and my og sample had a lot of water (I didn't notice since I just set it aside). I fear that if I take a sample off the top it'll have a low reading because it stratified.
Thanks