I brewed a batch of witbier this past Saturday, the airlock was bubbling like crazy for the first 2 and a half days, now it has ceased to move. I know that the airlock isn't really a good indicator of whether fermenting is happening or not but I want to know that if it is okay to do a hydrometer reading now or just wait until this upcoming Saturday when I rack it into the secondary? Thank you! 🍺
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flars
Well-Known Member
Wait at least a week for a SG reading. Two weeks is better. Are you racking to a secondary vessel because the instructions say you should? Taking the beer off the yeast cake will stop any remaining fermentation and off flavor clean up.
Beers will clear just as well in the primary as in a secondary.
Beers will clear just as well in the primary as in a secondary.
I agree with flars above. Consider that every time you take a hydro reading, you take a chance of contaminating your beer. My normal practice is to take the 1st reading at 2 weeks minimum, and then again prior to kegging/bottling. I also don't consider a secondary a requirement, and seldom do. Only when dry hopping, or using some adjunct.
Roadie
Well-Known Member
I'd probably wait 7-10 days to check the gravity for the first time. Make sure to sanitize your thief and I don't put the tested beer back in fermentor. Check it again 3 days later and if the readings are the same then the yeast is done.
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Biggest question to ask yourself. How much of a hurry are you in? Homebrewing is a test in patience and you will be rewarded. You theoretically could be finished fermenting in a day/couple days. Giving it a little wrap up time never hurts. This is one of the reasons most starter recipes go by the 1 - 2 - 3 method (1 week ferment, 2 weeks secondary, 3 weeks bottle carb/conditioning). For most brews a secondary is not necessary as yeast is such higher quality now than it used to be and as a result those 'off flavors' and autolosys are not really much of an issue. The only times you really may want to use a secondary is when adding fruit or long term bulk ageing.
Look at your recipe. So long as you followed directions and kept your fermentation temps in the range (you will find that fermentation temp control will do the most for the quality of your final product, proper sanitation is a good habit as well) you should end up around where the FG is marked at on the recipe. Otherwise you know you are done fermenting if you get the same hydrometer reading over 3 days. You really want to make sure it is done fermenting before bottling as an unfinished fermentation can make for some violently explosive bottles.
For the most part I generally give all beers I ferment 2 weeks in the fermenter, and make sure the gravity is steady before proceeding to bottling/kegging. I know when you are just getting started it really is hard to wait for the beer to be ready but it is well worth it. nothing is more sad than upon opening the last bottle or two of a batch finding that it has just then reached its peak.
Look at your recipe. So long as you followed directions and kept your fermentation temps in the range (you will find that fermentation temp control will do the most for the quality of your final product, proper sanitation is a good habit as well) you should end up around where the FG is marked at on the recipe. Otherwise you know you are done fermenting if you get the same hydrometer reading over 3 days. You really want to make sure it is done fermenting before bottling as an unfinished fermentation can make for some violently explosive bottles.
For the most part I generally give all beers I ferment 2 weeks in the fermenter, and make sure the gravity is steady before proceeding to bottling/kegging. I know when you are just getting started it really is hard to wait for the beer to be ready but it is well worth it. nothing is more sad than upon opening the last bottle or two of a batch finding that it has just then reached its peak.
When I started I used Northern Brewer kits. I liked that there is a good description and also they publish the directions and ingredients.
I still look at their site for inspiration. I will look for something interesting, look at the ingredients, and make some adjustments to my liking using Beersmith.
I do all grain now and formulate my own recipes. Often they are just very slight changes of a recipe that looks interesting to me. Today's was an Octoberfest that was based on a couple of different kits/recipes.
