Measuring FG noob question...

[andrewb_1985]

My first batch of AG has now been kegged. I was pretty close to my target OG of 1.053 with measured OG of 1.052. I left in fermenter for 14 days. My question is on beersmith it allows you to enter gravity at the end of primary and then FG at bottling. Why would they be different? I racked from primary to bottling bucket, measured FG of 1.018, then racked to keg. My target FG was 1.012 so I have ended up with lower than expected ABV. Will my FG change at the end of my 30 day conditioning at 60F? or would I have benefitted from a secondary fermentation?

Other notes if it helps with troubleshooting: My target pre-boil gravity was 1.045 and I only hit 1.041. I used a 3L starter split into 2 carboys with 5 gal wort in each.

 

[schokie]

I don't know if you would have benefited from a secondary, but you probably would have benefited from more time in primary. 14 days might have been enough time if your process was solid, but another week or two could have allowed the beer to drop those final extra points.

Did you measure the FG prior to racking from primary to bottling? Ideally you wait until the gravity is steady over several days before calling fermentation complete.

Worst case you still have beer. It just might be a little rougher around the edges than you'd prefer.

 

[dadshomebrew]

Wondering the same thing about this portion of beersmith. Maybe someone on here with a little more experience can provide some insight.

 

[schokie]

I'm assuming that option is there for people who secondary. If you only primary those numbers should be the same.

 

[andrewb_1985]

No I didn't check it anytime other than at kegging. For several days I didn't see any activity in the airlock...I stared at it for 15 mins once....I thought that was a sign of complete fermentation...I will take more samples next time...I didn't really want to remove the airlock untill I had to.

Sent from my HTC One using Home Brew mobile app

 

[schokie]

The airlock activity does let you know the beer is actively fermenting, but the lack of activity doesn't mean it's done. I tend to only get bubbles in it for the first few days, then nothing for the rest of the time. Sometimes I've had an entire fermentation with no airlock activity whatsoever.

When I'm brewing a recipe I've done before and everything is going normally I sometimes just let it go for a couple weeks, keg, drink, and never measure. But if you're unsure, or first time with that yeast or recipe, you really should measure before bottling. Taking off the lid for the couple minutes it takes to measure the gravity isn't going to hurt anything. Sometimes I think our community is a little too paranoid about sanitization.