Help!!

[deandeano]

Hi, is it ok to take off lid of fv to take hydrometer reading? Thanks..

 

[lumpher]

Yes. I take lids off to take samples, dry hop, smell it, etc, all the time. In 13 years of brewing I've never oxidized a beer. I don't take the lid off for long, and I don't swirl it around or move it with the lid off, but yes, you can, as the co2 covering the beer will take a while to dissipate if you take care not to cause any turbulence in the fermenter by moving it or causing the beer to slosh around.

 

[Dynachrome]

Sterilize anything you put in there.

What kind of vessel, what size batch if you don't mind.

I pull mine out with a bottling pump.

I used to use a sterized measuring cup when I was starting out. I was using buckets.

Clean (wash) first, sterilize after that.

Check out StarSan. Bleach will work with really hot water and left to fully dry. Bleach in beer = bad.

 

[deandeano]

Thanks guys, this a continental lager so will still be able to do so? Thanks for your time

 

[lumpher]

Lagers, ales, barleywines, wine... all ok for that. Have at it.

 

[deandeano]

Thank you guys

 

[JohnDBrewer]

When I first started brewing I found this idea somewhere. After you pitch your yeast take a sample a little more then you would need for your hydrometer tube. This sample will never go back in your fermenter, but into a beer bottle. Cover the beer bottle with some foil or a lose plug of paper towel and keep this bottle in the same environment your the fermenter, i.e. same temperature, even touching it. Now you can measure the gravity all you want whenever you want without worrying about oxidation, contamination, having to sanitize everything before and after sampling, etc. This will be a pretty close approximation of what is actually going on in the fermenter. Again this sample never goes back into your fermenter.

 

[deandeano]

Brilliant idea, thanks JDB