Hydrometer reading first brew

[SamJ]

Hi All,

So I am currently in the fermentation stage of my first brew. I just realized that I never took an orginal reading. From what I read missing the orginal isn't that big of a deal, but helpful to guide to see where you stand. I believe from the look of it my reading would be lower than what the recipe is looking for because I boiled off a lot more than expected. I started Saturday so I have a few days of fermentation

My questions:

When should I take my next reading? From what I read I should wait until the fermentation process is finished then take a reading. Then take another a few days after to ensure the fermentation is complete around 14 days? Does this seem right?

Or should I take a reading now?


Thanks

Sam

 

[KepowOb]

Welcome to the obsession Sam.

If you did an extract brew (which I'm going to assume you have), not taking an OG isn't a big deal. You said you boiled off more than expected, so your OG will actually be higher than the recipes (same amount of fermentables, less volume).

You pretty much got it right on. Wait until day 12-14 and take a reading. Then wait another 2 days and take reading number 2. Fermentation should be done by that point unless something odd happens, but it's good to get into the habit of taking 2 readings.

 

[BlackGoat]

What he said. There are two primary reasons you take hydrometer readings. The first reason is that you want to find out what your starting gravity and final gravity is so that you can determine the ABV of your brew, among other things. Since you missed the OG reading, you will just have to take an educated guess based on the kit info that you have. The second reason you take readings is at the end (the ones done days apart) to find out whether fermentation is complete and that the beer has stable readings....which you identified yourself as needed. So just hang tight and take your readings when the fermentation looks to be complete.