My dad and I just started brewing and we got a 1gal brew kit off amazon called Craft a Brew. It didn't come with a hydrometer or refractometer. The directions say just ferment it for 2 weeks then rack it but what are the chances of the yeast stalling or not finished fermenting. It came with ingredients to make a pale ale. This may be a dumb question but should I consider a hydrometer? Dad doesn't want to spend much money at least not yet. We're just getting our feet wet but I figure if we continue with this it will be a must have at some point. Dad is the one with the money and I'm more of the brains and doing the research.
First brew but no hydrometer
- Thread starter Griewer
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a hydrometer is only like $10-$12......
In all likelihood, the 2 weeks recommendation will work for you. The odds of a stuck fermentation are probably less than 5%. That said, you definitely should consider a hydrometer or refractometer. A bottle bomb from an incomplete fermentation is not something to be taken lightly. With a one gallon batch size, a refractometer requires a lot smaller testing volume so would probably be preferred. It does require use of math / online calculator however. Using it without the calculator will be highly inaccurate.
If your going to continue brewing then a hydrometer is a must imo. Refractometer is good for 1 gallon batch as the above poster stated. If your not going to get one soon you might want to keep the beer in the fermenter for 3 weeks to be on the safe side.
I normally leave my beer in the fv for 3 weeks . This allows the yeast to clean up and it will help limit sediment in bottles.
Welcome to the forum and hobby . I hope you and your Dad enjoy this together. Keep us posted and check out all the sections here. Some really good and helpful info to read.
I normally leave my beer in the fv for 3 weeks . This allows the yeast to clean up and it will help limit sediment in bottles.
Welcome to the forum and hobby . I hope you and your Dad enjoy this together. Keep us posted and check out all the sections here. Some really good and helpful info to read.
I'm guessing it came with dry yeast, possibly saying Safale on it. If it looked like it did any fermenting, it probably worked out fine, dry yeast is pretty robust that way.
I prefer my refractometer for all steps prior to fermenting, and the hydrometer afterwards (the alcohol in the beer messes with the refractometer). It does require a couple ounces to use a hydrometer, this is true, but you can put the hydrometer into the tube first and then fill just enough beer to get it to float, and it's not that much. Plus it's a good time to give it a taste test anyhow, and it's just a few sips worth. I find tasting the beer along the way to be educational and fun both as I continue to learn every batch even though I've been brewing a while.
I prefer my refractometer for all steps prior to fermenting, and the hydrometer afterwards (the alcohol in the beer messes with the refractometer). It does require a couple ounces to use a hydrometer, this is true, but you can put the hydrometer into the tube first and then fill just enough beer to get it to float, and it's not that much. Plus it's a good time to give it a taste test anyhow, and it's just a few sips worth. I find tasting the beer along the way to be educational and fun both as I continue to learn every batch even though I've been brewing a while.
Steveruch
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Is this kit extract? It's easy to figure out the O G in an extract batch.
dawn_kiebawls
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I think OP is more concerned with the FG and being sure that fermentation is finished more than knowing what the OG is and figuring ABV
Dinadan
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I guess I am old school, but I do not test anything. I let it ferment for a week, and if all activity seems to be stopped, I bottle when I get around to it. I have never had a bottle bomb. So I would just follow the instructions.
What does the volume of the batch have to do with whether you use a hydrometer or fractometer. You just don't want to use a fractometer after fermentation has started. That said, you must have a hydrometer for Brewing. I use the fractometer for Brewing because its fast and doesn't require a lot of wort
schmurf
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A hydrometer is a cheap piece of equipment btw.
Yes and it's from Craft a Brew
You just won't be able to check FG unless you use some math. And I'm not sure how accurate it is.
rsquared
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Pulling off hydrometer samples from a 1 gallon batch and seeing that level drop in the fermenter feels much more painful than from 5 gallons.
@Brewbuzzard , what he said ^^^^
Most people won't put the sample back in .
Most people won't put the sample back in .
Yeah I thought of that later. I've never brewed less than 5 gal and now I brew 15 gal. And you never put the sample back. I drink some for QC.
BrewnWKopperKat
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Why is it that "5 gal" batches represent the amount of wort at packaging time while "1 gal" batches represent the amount of wort at the end of the boil (assuming one tops off properly)?
Personally, I size my batches (and fermenter) to match the number of bottles I want. Add additional wort volume to account for losses, including a couple of hydrometer samples. Since I get the desired result (12-pack, ...) the amount wort used for hydrometer samples doesn't matter to me.
conspiccus
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In my experience, you will get addicted and when you do a hydrometer will be one of the first things you need anyway so might as well just get it now. Also invest in a good quality thermometer (Thermapen) from the start as I continued to use the kit thermometer and ruined a few batches because of it.
conspiccus
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Couldn’t he simply sanitize the hydrometer and put it directly into the fermenter? I know it might seem like a high contamination risk but I have seen people on here mention that technique to good results
rsquared
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1 gallon is a common size glass jug for fermenting, so that's the batch size. I have a feeling that back in the very early days of homebrewing, 6.5 gallon buckets were probably less common, and perhaps a 5 gallon fermenter with a slightly smaller batch size would have been more common.
Good for you. And did you have all that knowledge and the right equipment to do exactly the size you wanted for your very first batch? We're trying to help a first time brewer here, not discourage them because they're not doing it the "right" way for your preferences. The guy doesn't even have a hydrometer yet, so how would he know to plan for how many samples he would take when determining his batch size. Especially when he's brewing from a kit that has a recipe and batch size predetermined for him.
You can but it depends on other factors that can make getting an accurate reading difficult. Krausen sticking to the hydrometer, CO2 bubbles, visibility. You also don't want to open the fermenter.
BrewnWKopperKat
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Most hydrometers are too long to float in a one gallon carboy. There is a topic here at HBT where a specific brand/model is mentioned that appears to be short enough to float. I haven't seen any "follow-up" reports as to whether or not it works.
BrewnWKopperKat
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OP (#13) had decided to get a refractometer and expressed intent to look into five gallon bathes.
Topics tend to drift off-topic - and I had assumed that since OP had made a decision and the topic was drifting, that offering an alternative approach for future consideration would be acceptable. It was never my intent to state the right way to brew small batches.
I mentioned it earlier above, but I drink mine. Am I the only one?
If I think it's close enough to being finished to check gravity, it probably is actually finished, and I'm anxious to see how it turned out. Granted it's yeasty sometimes, which throws flavors off, but generally speaking I still love to grab that sample for a preview.
I don't use a refractometer for FG because I do 5 gallon batches and don't mind loosing a little volume to samples. But if I did 1 gallon batches, I would definitely use a refractometer. I take two readings before bottling, 2 - 3 days apart, to see if gravity is stable. It would hurt to loose two hydrometer samples from a 1 gallon batch. To me, the questionable accuracy would be acceptable since I could still judge if gravity is stable.
Guys I have some bad news. The inventer of Velcro just died. RIP
I think you're looking for another thread? Plus, pretty sure you're wrong, he died somewhere around the early 90's.
Its a joke dude. RIP play on words you rip Velcro apart... Just a little levity to ease the tension.
They make a thing called a thief. Its a tube you sanitize and put your hyrdometer inside of. You pull your sample, take a reading inside the thief, then return the sample. If you sanitize it well, it works fine.
