First brew questions

[tgeary76]

I recently got a brew equipment kit with bottling bucket &6gal carboy. What is the easiest way to measure gravity after I pitch the yeast if I'm fermenting in the carboy and only doing 1stage fermentation. Also I have seen people using dark plastic screw top bottles for conditioning. Pros & cons to this vs using glass? Will it affect the taste of the beer or time of conditioning needed. I am using a brewers best English brown ale kit btw. Thanks in advance for all the advice.

 

[twistr25]

A wine thief is the easiest way if it's already in the carboy. I think there are some pressure issues related to the plastic bottles, but I think they are also used for soda, so they may be ok. Can you not get a hold of any glass bottles?

 

[Psycotte]

From all the reading I have done here glass bottles are best. It is good however to use one screwtop plastic bottle with your batch so you can gauge when the beer has reach a good carbonation level (Plastic bottle will get hard). I'm bottling my first brew tonite. I am using a load of Sam Adams bottles i had the pleasure of consuming the beer from.

 

[dstranger99]

Take the cheap route and get you a turkey baster to check your gravity, and also use bottles.........

 

[tgeary76]

Ok, thanks for the suggestion for turkey baster and I will be using the glass bottles as well. Much appreciated!

 

[Greyhound]

Just remember to sanitize your turkey baster or wine thief before pulling your sample. That may go without saying, but just in case...

 

[tgeary76]

Could I check the gravity with the wort still in the brew pot if I don't have a turkey baster or thief? The wife is gonna be a lil upset if I spend 1 more$ on this first brew. Lol

 

[brokebucket]

tgeary, if you dont want to spend a few bucks on a way to take a sample (which I get since it is your first beer), then just dont take the readings....they really arent necassary as long as you are patient.

Assuming you have the hydrometer and sample beaker, you can always take the original gravity reading when you are transferring to the carboy. Then buy the wine thief or turkey baster in a week or two for your final gravity reading.

Also, if you pay over 10 bucks for either of those, you got ripped off.

 

[twistr25]

Not necessarily important for your OG, but almost a necessity for your FG. If it's extract, the OG is rarely off. It's important to know the FG for a few reasons, but if you let it sit for two weeks, and also rare, it happens to not really ferment and you bottle, big bottle bomb issues. It's one of those things, if you don't check you'll have an issue. And like brokebucket said, shouldn't cost more than $10 bucks for a glass wine thief and even less for a turkey baster.

 

[boydster]

A hydrometer is really one of those necessary pieces of equipment. And they are cheap! You'll want one to make sure you have hit your target FG and the beer is stable before bottling. I just had a batch stall, it was my first time trying out Safbrew T-33 and I would have sworn it was done if I hadn't taken gravity readings to see that it was actually just stalled out at a higher gravity than it was supposed to be. Had I bottled, I would very likely have had some exploding glass in my house.

Also, with respect to the plastic bottles, brown PET bottles work just fine for beer. Most brew supply stores sell them, and I can attest that they work just fine.

 

[kombat]

a hydrometer is really one of those necessary pieces of equipment. And they are cheap! You'll want one to make sure you have hit your target fg and the beer is stable before bottling, and a second one for when you break your first one.

fify.

 

[boydster]

Cheers