How much gravity lost in 24 hours

[sesamechicken]

Ahoy hoy,
Yesterday was brew day for a new pale ale I'm trying out. My 4yo boy wanted to help, and in the process, we lost a hydrometer. With that, I wasn't able to get a read for OG. That was 24 hours ago.

So, how much gravity (if any) could I expect to lose in 24 hours under perfect fermentation conditions? I'd like to know how close I made it to the estimate OG that brewtoad calculated. Got a new hydrometer on the way home from work tonight.

Thanks!

 

[Thunder_Chicken]

It really could be anything. It might not change at all during the lag phase, or it might take off straight away, rate depending on the yeast, temperature, oxygen level, wort nutrients, the phase of the moon, the orientation of the tea leaves at the bottom of your tea cup, etc..

Was it an extract recipe? If you know how much extract went in you should be able to determine the OG with a fair amount of confidence if you added the proper amount of water. If partial or full mash, not so much.

It'll be beer, whatever happens.

 

[thadass]

Unfortunately this isn't really going to be something you can back-estimate like that. Temperature conditions, yeast strain, health of the yeast in the individual pack you used, etc are all going to be determiners of initial gravity lost (if any!) in the first 24 hours.

The only way to calculate/estimate OG after fermentation has begun is to use both a hydrometer AND refractometer measurement at the same time.

Using a refractometer calculator like:
http://www.northernbrewer.com/refractometer-calculator/
You can enter the "Current Brix" and "Current Gravity" to get an output estimate of the current ABV and the OG.

 

[kharper6]

I've had beers go from 1.065 to to FG in 5 days, and some took over a week.

Best be safe, keep it in a good temp range for the yeast, give it 14 days, then bottle.

 

[Doctor_M]

Next time this happens (it will) just save a hydro sample til the next day. I suppose wild yeast could slowly start to eat away at the sugars but I doubt it..... oh and even better you can be like me and have three hydrometers at a time just in case! Believe it or not I've broken two hydrometers back to back.

 

[sesamechicken]

Roger that. When I say 'lost' the hydrometer, I actually mean he knocked it to the ground and it shattered! I have one of those mini versions about 6" long, but its pretty much good for nothing.

Setting aside a sample would've been a great idea. Where were you yesterday?

Any thoughts how much it could've come down?

 

[Doctor_M]

Roger that. When I say 'lost' the hydrometer, I actually mean he knocked it to the ground and it shattered! I have one of those mini versions about 6" long, but its pretty much good for nothing.

Setting aside a sample would've been a great idea. Where were you yesterday?

Any thoughts how much it could've come down?

Like others have said it's pretty much impossible to know, chalk it up as a learning experience and rdwhahb. Your gonna have beer at the end of it all.

 

[Thunder_Chicken]

Next time this happens (it will) just save a hydro sample til the next day. I suppose wild yeast could slowly start to eat away at the sugars but I doubt it..... oh and even better you can be like me and have three hydrometers at a time just in case! Believe it or not I've broken two hydrometers back to back.

Not a bad idea. Just take a hydro sample and refrigerate or freeze it. Would work even if you pitched. Then you can get your OG any old time. Good thought.

 

[prohl84]

Next time this happens (it will) just save a hydro sample til the next day. I suppose wild yeast could slowly start to eat away at the sugars but I doubt it..... oh and even better you can be like me and have three hydrometers at a time just in case! Believe it or not I've broken two hydrometers back to back.

I thought about buying a backup- maybe I'll splurge and get two.


I wish I could say I broke my first hydrometer at age four. Though I broke my first one before I even used it once. :smack:

 

[sesamechicken]

It really could be anything. It might not change at all during the lag phase, or it might take off straight away, rate depending on the yeast, temperature, oxygen level, wort nutrients, the phase of the moon, the orientation of the tea leaves at the bottom of your tea cup, etc..

Was it an extract recipe? If you know how much extract went in you should be able to determine the OG with a fair amount of confidence if you added the proper amount of water. If partial or full mash, not so much.

It'll be beer, whatever happens.

It was an extract (3g batch), and it went like this:

Steeped grain in 1G for 25 mins @ 150.

Added 1G water and 1/3 of the 5lbs extract and boiled for 60 mins following hop schedule. At the last 15, I added the rest of the extract.

Cooled down with the last 1G water and when at 68*, dumped into 4G plastic carboy ($5 filled with purified water at Sams, by the way). Had to top off due to boil off to get back to 3G - about 3 qts water.

5 hours after pitching yeast, loads of activity. 24 hours after this thing is churning like mad.

Hopefully I did everything right. Brewtoad predicted 1.06, which seemed high, but I really wanted to know so I could build off the recipe I put together.

 

[sesamechicken]

To follow up, 36 hours later the read is 1.046. Based off of the app predictions and activity, I'm happy with that. I thought it would be too low to start.

Thanks, all!