measuring gravity of commercial beer?

[blanchmd]

Dumb question -- I am trying to clone a local favorite -- BBC Steel Rail Extra Pale Ale. I have one sitting in my fridge and I want to measure the gravity to design my recipe to hit it. Do I just pour some into my test tube and let it warm to room temp? Anything else for accuracy? Thanks

 

[Derp]

You might want to shake it up so that bubbles of carbonation don't interfere with the reading.

Since it's a local beer, couldn't you just ask the brewery about the gravity?

 

[stratslinger]

If you come up with a decent clone, please share it here - my Dad loves that beer, and it might be fun to make a batch of it for him some time.