gravity sample without oxygen exposure?

[thunderaxe]

hi all,

i'm making a lot of hoppy/hazy beers lately and after having had many of them oxidize on me i've started taking great pains to limit the amount of exposure to the air after fermentation is complete or mostly so. that includes doing closed transfers from my carboys to purged kegs with dry hops in them. i'm wondering how best to take gravity samples, both from the carboys and kegs, without exposing the beers to the air though. any suggestions? i used to just use a turkey baster to suck up enough to put in the tube with the hydrometer but is there a better way?

 

[kevin58]

I don't take samples anymore until the day of packaging and even then I often don't bother.

 

[Franktalk]

I do closed transfers into the keg, and after it is filled, I draw some at low pressure from the keg with a picnic tap. Of course, by that time I'm sure that the fermentation has finished.

 

[3toes]

hi all,

i'm making a lot of hoppy/hazy beers lately and after having had many of them oxidize on me i've started taking great pains to limit the amount of exposure to the air after fermentation is complete or mostly so. that includes doing closed transfers from my carboys to purged kegs with dry hops in them. i'm wondering how best to take gravity samples, both from the carboys and kegs, without exposing the beers to the air though. any suggestions? i used to just use a turkey baster to suck up enough to put in the tube with the hydrometer but is there a better way?

Kegs are easy, just hook up some co2 and a tap and pour your sample. For your fermentation vessel though, you'd need to have some kind of faucet or valve on it.

 

[thunderaxe]

Kegs are easy, just hook up some co2 and a tap and pour your sample. For your fermentation vessel though, you'd need to have some kind of faucet or valve on it.

i have 10ft lines though, i don't want to have 10ft of beer sitting in the lines just to take a gravity sample

 

[Carolina_Matt]

i have 10ft lines though, i don't want to have 10ft of beer sitting in the lines just to take a gravity sample

Buy a picnic tap, 3-5 feet of beer line, and another liquid ball lock disconnect. Use that solely for taking gravity samples.

 

[3toes]

i have 10ft lines though, i don't want to have 10ft of beer sitting in the lines just to take a gravity sample

It's a tad pricey for what it is... but I picked up a couple of these for tailgates: Keg Faucet Adapter Assembly - Ball Lock. Faucet attaches right to the out-post on the keg via ball-lock adapter.

Just lower the regulator to like 2 PSI and it pours decently well. Again, the major drawback is the price :\

 

[Calder]

Once it is in the fermenter, the next gravity reading is when I package. So long as I have active fermentation, I know everything is good. The sample at packaging is more to taste the beer and a quick check that it didn't stall on me. I can only recall 1 stalled ferment in the past 20 years, which was a Barley wine with PacMan; I was aiming for low teens and was at low 20s due to yeast reaching alcohol limit .... an addition of 3711 bought it down to 1.010.

 

[micraftbeer]

Tilt hydrometer.

 

[thunderaxe]

damn pricey though and i like to do split batches so i'd have to buy two of them

 

[deuc224]

Hanna digital 96811, made things so much easier.

 

[thunderaxe]

Hanna digital 96811, made things so much easier.

do you just leave it in the carboy? and if not, how do you get the sample?

 

[myndflyte]

i have 10ft lines though, i don't want to have 10ft of beer sitting in the lines just to take a gravity sample

To be fair, that's less than 2 oz.

 

[eric19312]

To be fair, that's less than 2 oz.

and get EVA barrier lines or similar and even that 2oz will be fine.

 

[thunderaxe]

and get EVA barrier lines or similar and even that 2oz will be fine.

wait, what am i risking by using regular tubing?

 

[Qhrumphf]

Pull a sample the same way you closed transfer. Push it out with CO2. A sampling port of some form is obviously easier, but in a glass carboy dunno if there's a better option.

 

[eric19312]

wait, what am i risking by using regular tubing?

regular lines are pretty permeable to oxygen. Its why in kegging system with regular PVC lines I used to toss the first ounce or so on first beer of the day. Tastes nasty from oxidation in the lines, even mixed in a full pint I could taste it, easier to toss the bit that was in the lines. With EVA barrier tubing don't have that issue.

 

[thunderaxe]

regular lines are pretty permeable to oxygen. Its why in kegging system with regular PVC lines I used to toss the first ounce or so on first beer of the day. Tastes nasty from oxidation in the lines, even mixed in a full pint I could taste it, easier to toss the bit that was in the lines. With EVA barrier tubing don't have that issue.

good to know!