Hey everyone. I am relatively new to brewing (about 20 beers brewed and 6 ciders); this is also my first time posting here. I hate taking gravity readings and I'm always worried about increasing the chances of infecting the beer (or wasting it in a small 1 g batch). I use a combination of 1 gallon carboys, 3 gal plastic wide mouth with a spigot, 7 gal plastic wide mouth carboys and on occasion, the spike conical. When I prime, I pour the sugar solution into the carboy directly, which I know will not evenly distribute sugar, but so far I have not had issues with some over carbonating. All of my carboys are a pain to take gravity readings from in one way or another so I wait until bottling day to take the reading. I also want to cut down on how much starsan I am using (environment and health reasons). Any tips and tricks or advice, that does not require the purchase of more equipment (like a tilt. I want one (or two or three) but this has been a hobby that just keeps on taking from the wallet and I have to call it somewhere), Any ways for a newbie to to be comfortable knowing that your fermentation is done before you are bottling? I generally wait about 3 weeks, even if activity is long done. I don't want bottle bombs and for obvious reasons I want a fully fermented beer. Also, is it an issue with a few gravity points left to ferment out, or is that even cause for concern with bottle bombs?
Ex: I pitched 1 packet of safale-05 into apx 3.2 gal of 1.068 smoked porter on dec 14. It peaked on the 16th, and all activity in airlock was done by the 20th. For the last week there are bubbles moving around and there are some sitting on the surface (krausen is totally dropped). I assume this activity and the current bubbles on the surface is just residual CO2. Am I being overly cautious by letting it ferment longer at this point (I was going to bottle at day 21)? This evening will be 13 days.
Thanks a lot and sorry if I got some of the lingo wrong.
- Chris
Ex: I pitched 1 packet of safale-05 into apx 3.2 gal of 1.068 smoked porter on dec 14. It peaked on the 16th, and all activity in airlock was done by the 20th. For the last week there are bubbles moving around and there are some sitting on the surface (krausen is totally dropped). I assume this activity and the current bubbles on the surface is just residual CO2. Am I being overly cautious by letting it ferment longer at this point (I was going to bottle at day 21)? This evening will be 13 days.
Thanks a lot and sorry if I got some of the lingo wrong.
- Chris
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