taking SG readings in secondary

[sdufford]

Hey guys, my beer has in the secondary for about a week, and I was wondering whether it was a good idea to monitor the specific gravity at this point or not. Would it be bad to take readings every so often for fear of oxidizing the beer this late in the game?

My reasoning was, the more times I unplug the carboy the more chance of oxidation, and maybe I should just leave it alone until I'm really ready to bottle it.

 

[KevinW]

Leave it!
It is fine!
Very little if any fermentation goes on in the secondary normally, so the gravity will be fine.
Secondaries are usually just for clearing(settling) or flavoring like adding fruit or dry hopping!

BTW, when you open up your fermentor you will have a layer of CO2 that covers the beer and as long as you do not stir up the air in the fermentor you should always have a nice healthy layer of CO2 keeping the oxygen out.

 

[JonK331]

Just leave it alone. There is more of a risk of contamination than oxidation. If you tested it when you transferred it to secondary and it was where it should be, there is no reason to keep checking. Best to keep out of it.

 

[sdufford]

Ok, I guess my gut feeling was on the money. It was not at full attenuation when I transferred, but pretty close. So about 2 weeks in the secondary would bring it down to FG, no doubt?