My first brew...final thoughts & one question

[lcbjr77]

I MADE BEER!

Well there's liquid in a 6.5 gallon bucket, Lets not get too crazy until you try one in a bottle.

I made my first attempt at brewing yesterday. All in all it went pretty well. Hops were added as planned, no boil overs just a stinky house (This will probably be the last time brewing in the house, fiance hasn't said anything yet but I can just tell)

Only mishap: Pieces of label on LME came off into the wort as I was boiling and had to sift it all out. (had them in hot water to help them soften and the labels were getting loose)

Only Concern: My OG was supposed to be 1.076-1.08 and it was 1.070, I'm thinking I might not have mixed the cool water with the wort that well....???

I'm happy with the end result as of right now, I have the bucket wrapped in a blanket and the airlock is going nuts.

One question I have is when should I take a second reading? I don't really want to horse around taking the lid on and off the bucket until I really have to.

Thanks,
Larry

 

[ThunderpantsBrewing]

I don't usually check it until my airlock activity has stopped completely, usually a week, sometimes up to 2. Just be patient and let the yeast do their jobs, and you should have some great beer!

 

[RM-MN]

If you don't get around to checking the gravity by the end of week 2, it will be fine to leave it to week 3 or 4. No rush.

 

[leidemann]

I've been brewing for two and a half years and I took hydrometer readings on my first two batches. Since then I don't even bother as the beer that I brew always tastes fantastic and I have faith in the processes that I use. As long as your processes are sound the beer will take care of itself. Once you mash and then boil, the gravity is set. Of course any dilution after the boil, will reduce that gravity. If you pitch enough viable yeast and let it do it's job for at least 10 days, fermentation should be complete and gravity stable again. Who needs the stinking gravity readings, it is what it is.

 

[ThunderpantsBrewing]

Who needs the stinking gravity readings, it is what it is.

Beginners need gravity readings, until they are sure their process is working.

 

[halcyondays]

As mentioned, taking a reading in 2-3 weeks would be fine just make sure everything worked out. I used to not take readings really, like leidermann mentioned, and I realized at a certain point that I no longer had a handle on how my equipment was working, recipe specs, etc. I agree readings aren't necessary, but for me at least, it led to what I felt was a sloppy process and recipe design.

 

[theonetrueruss]

Taking that final reading before bottling or kegging is critical if you want to know how much attenuation you had and get a reasonable measurement of the ABV of the produced beer. (of course original reading is necessary). You really should take a reading before bottling because if something happened that caused the yeast to not finish or go dormant you could be creating bottle bombs. Of course after 3 weeks this is pretty unlikely but I have seen it. Especially with certain yeasts like the While Labs Saison yeast. After 3 weeks sometimes it isn't done and needs some more time to finish. That's the only one I have had take longer than 3 weeks to finish.

 

[lcbjr77]

I got home from work and the top of my bucket was soaked with beer... Airlock was plugged up. I pulled out the airlock and the bucket let out a "aaaaaaaaaah" . I used the tubing that came with my auto siphon as a blowoff and stuck it in a gallon jug filled with Starsan. Thank god I caught it in time, heard stories of lids blowing off