Question about gravity

[jdm88]

I have a question about knowing when a beer is done fermenting. I just brewed the pink elephant clone and hit the OG spot on at 1.072. I measured it today and it was 1.009. The recipe says FG is supposed to be 1.006, so I'm not far off. I'm going to let it sit for a little while longer. I'm wondering if the next time I measure it is at 1.006 do I have to make sure it stays the same for 3 days or if it goes any lower? Or if it hits the FG the recipe calls for, is that good? I don't have time to let it sit for weeks to let it go.

 

[meltroha]

When it doesn't change in 3 days it's good to go

 

[woozy]

It's not going to take weeks.

If next time it's at 1.009 then you are done. If it's not then you are not. Yes, you "have" to make sure it stays the same for 3 days. It's going to settle to *something* and it won't take forever.

 

[TopherM]

When they calculate the FG in a recipe, they are using AVERAGE yeast attenuation numbers. The yeast are done when they're done. They don't follow the recipe

In the case of your numbers above, a OG of 1.072 with an expected FG of 1.006 would be an expected attenuation of about 92%, and you hit about 89% attenuation at 1.009, so you are right there. 0.003 gravity points is almost negligable.

Good luck!

 

[woozy]

When they calculate the FG in a recipe, they are using AVERAGE yeast attenuation numbers. The yeast are done when they're done. They don't follow the recipe

In the case of your numbers above, a OG of 1.072 with an expected FG of 1.006 would be an expected attenuation of about 92%, and you hit about 89% attenuation at 1.009, so you are right there. 0.003 gravity points is almost negligable.

Good luck!

One's beer is going to have a final gravity. It might be 1.009. It might be 1.006 or it might be 1.004.

Thus the OP question can be translated three ways:
1) If my S.G hits 1.006 can I assume that's the final gravity? To which the answer is NO, of course not.

or 2) Can I bottle at 1.006 even if the final gravity is going to be 1.004? To which the answer is ... I don't know. Technically, final gravity has not been reached but you're well in the range. I don't know if "being in the range" is enough. But if it is then maybe you should be asking if you can bottle *now* at 1.009 as that's also in the range. It probably *is* okay to bottle at 1.006 and that's probably why so many kit instructions don't tell you to wait till stabilized and instead to simply hit an average final gravity.

But that goes against on the control and maximum knowledge and involvement that is the general wisdom of these forums.

or 3) How long can the tapering off into final gravity last? If I'm in the home stretch of 1.009 can I assume that whatever I read three days later will *have* to be the final gravity because the home stretch can't possible last more than three days? I don't know, but I seriously doubt that's a fool-proof assumption. I'd just take a third gravity reading three days after that. It *will* eventually stabilize and it won't take weeks.