Gravity Reading - Help!

[Murray]

I have a beer which has a target FG of 1.011. I have fermented with a very low flocculating yeast, so my beer (still in primary but stopped fermenting at around 1.013) is very cloudy with yeast.

Should my FG be measured in the primary, or should I consider the reading after racking and fining to remove the yeast, or will the yeast in suspension not have an effect on the gravity reading?

 

[Homercidal]

It won't affect the reading.

 

[Revvy]

You really should take a gravity reading BEFORE you move to the next step be it racking or bottling..the point of a grav reading is to tell you if it's time to do something or not..

 

[jetmac]

I have a beer which has a target FG of 1.011. I have fermented with a very low flocculating yeast, so my beer (still in primary but stopped fermenting at around 1.013) is very cloudy with yeast.

Should my FG be measured in the primary, or should I consider the reading after racking and fining to remove the yeast, or will the yeast in suspension not have an effect on the gravity reading?

Measure in the primary, the yeast themselves have no effect on gravity. After your beer hits FG you need to leave it at least few more days so the yeast can clean up their mess of undesirables. I prefer to leave it alone a month or more

 

[Murray]

Wow, you leave it for a month in primary? I don't have the patience for that...! The more I read this website though, the more it seems brewers wait. I only have 1 fermenter at the moment, so I guess I need to get a few more fermenters so I have something to do more often...

 

[Homercidal]

Having an extra fermenter or two or three will definitely allow you to brew when the bug hits.

Normally I'd say leave the beer in the primary for about 3 weeks and then bottle, but I think feeling the need to brew again is an acceptable excuse to use a secondary.

The length of time in the fermenter is dependent upon the style and gravity of the beer. Generally, the stronger the beer, the longer you condition.

 

[geezerpk]

Wow, you leave it for a month in primary? I don't have the patience for that...!

I'm with you on that — I hesitate to buy green bananas.