Rookie Mistake - Hydrometer

[BeerMe77]

I just started my first home brew. It has been 24hrs and I haven't seen an bubbles in the air lock, but I am not to worried since most of the other threads have mentioned at it might take up 72 hours to see any bubbles.

I concern is that when I took a sample to test with my hydrometer, I didn't take a larger enough sample so my hydrometer sat on the bottom the test tube.

So my concern is how will I know what the alcohol content is if I don't have a first reading to go from?

 

[ajf]

If it was an extract brew, you can post the recipe, and we can give you a pretty accurate estimate of the OG. If it was all grain, we can't.

-a.

 

[BeerMe77]

It was an extract brew for a mild ale from northern brewers, but I don't have it with me at the momment.

 

[h22lude]

From reading around on this site, extract brews OG shouldn't be much different from what they estimate it to be. So you can always just find you recipe and see what they said your OG should be.

Also, just an FYI (again from reading around on this site, which is great) just because you don't have bubbles in your airlock doesn't mean fermentation hasn't started

 

[HerotBrewer]

From reading around on this site, extract brews OG shouldn't be much different from what they estimate it to be. So you can always just find you recipe and see what they said your OG should be.

The one time I couldn't take a SG, it was due to excessive foam in my heavily oxygenated wort, and I just went with the recipe kit estimate. All my other extract batches have been at or slightly above the kit estimate, and that batch turned out fine.

 

[Powers]

if you have a thief (about 10 bucks at your LHBS, and a wise investment), you can pull a sample from your carboy before fermentation gets rolling. you just put your hydrometer inside and the thief will magically fill up with wort so you can take a reading. then you touch the tip of the thief to the side of the carboy and the wort will drain back in. just make sure you clean and sanitize the thief and hydrometer thoroughly, as the wort is in a vulnerable state at this point.

on your point about bubbles, what you want to look for is yeast reproduction if you have a clear carboy. you should be seeing a good culture of yeast on the bottom, and perhaps some yeast stuck to the sides of the fermenter if it is a good flocculant yeast. if there's a nice yeast cake on the bottom and some yeast on the sides, the yeast is healthy and reproducing well and active fermentation will start before you know it.