Too much foam for a gravity reading

[kidmeatball]

Fermentation still seems to be going quite well after 5 days. Its a brew house cream ale on Wyeast 1007 german ale with a couple litres short on the top up water. OG was 1.060 not exactly sure where I should get to, somewhere near 1.020 I suppose. I cant get a read on my hydrometer though, when I drop the meter in the cylinder, it foams up like mad and covers the gauge. It tastes pretty good, I'm happy about that. Nice bright fruity flavours with a sort of smooth malt just under that. A little tickle of carbonation right now which is causing the flare of head. The krausen is quite heavy and thick.

I just bottled a pilsner from the same company following the kit instructions to the letter and it seemed much less vigorous on the main ferment, though I used the Cooper's yeast that came with it. Had no trouble reading the hydrometer though.

I do plan on letting it settle out in a bright tank for the better part of two weeks before bottling. I like a very clear beer without too much sediment and I want to free up some equipment for a couple other brews, like EdWort's apfelwein, which will hog a spot for a month at least.

I suppose I'll just have to shut up and have a beer, rack it this weekend maybe.

 

[flars]

During active fermentation a lot of CO2 is being produced. That's what you are seeing. Take your first reading after two weeks. Those instructions are trying to rush the yeast. The yeast work on their own schedule. Before the end of week three you will have verified FG has been reached. A few more days in the primary will clear your beer and you're ready to bottle.

Two or three fermentors come in handy.

 

[kidmeatball]

Nice. Maybe I'll have to experiment with the whole no secondary on this batch. Cheers, flars!

 

[IvanTheTerribrew]

When you take a sample, you want to stir and even lift the hydrometer up and down pretty vigorously. This helps get the co2 out of the solution so you can test the SG. If you just drop the hydrometer in, then your reading may be skewed because of the co2.

A lot of times I take a sample, agitate it, when I get to it again, repeat, and after a few times I'll take the reading. That usually also helps that foam to go away.

 

[MikeInMKE]

I usually de-foam a sample by vigorously pouring it back and forth between two measuring cups, and then pour that into the test tube before adding the hydrometer.

I will add that if you plan on tasting it, I'd pull a little bit extra with your thief and pour some into a shot glass before you go about de-foaming, and drink that. It'll taste much better than the de-foamed and oxidized sample in the test tube.

 

[johngaltsmotor]

From my perspective, if there's so much foam I can't get an accurate read on the hydrometer that means it is obvious fermentation isn't complete so it's not worth measuring gravity yet anyway.

 

[kidmeatball]

That makes a lot of sense. This one is just attenuating very slowly. I managed to get something of a reading yesterday (and a taste of its brilliance to come!) at around 1.030. Still a bit higher than I expected after about a week. I think I'm going to just wait it out another week.

 

[noladom]

A few things that have worked for me. I use a sampling device to suck the bubbles from the surface of my sample and also give the hydrometer a little spin like a top to knock off any bubbles sticking to it. You could probably use one of those baby nose sucking things (brand new and sanitized of course) or a sanitized turkey baster I'd imagine. Hope it helps next time.

 

[pinemarten]

Old thread but I believe in threads!

Is it odd to have foam in a sample drawn from a sampling port of a conical fermenter before pitching yeast? It's not yet under any added pressure as IvanTheTerribrew mentioned although it's sealed and perhaps after warming a few degrees in a sealed enviornment some pressure was created.

 

[bracconiere]

Old thread but I believe in threads!

Is it odd to have foam in a sample drawn from a sampling port of a conical fermenter before pitching yeast? It's not yet under any added pressure as IvanTheTerribrew mentioned although it's sealed and perhaps after warming a few degrees in a sealed enviornment some pressure was created.

how gently did you draw it off?

(and damn, 2014 brings back memories! )

 

[pinemarten]

Lol and hopefully a couple thousand pints since .

It was not exactly gentle. It's the screw type sample port so easy to open slowly. I just had a beer and ended up pitching through a capped off 1.5" tc port. When I loosened the clamp the cap fired off like a horse rapist at a rodeo.

 

[trevelynzx]

like a horse rapist at a rodeo.

i don’t even...

 

[Soulshine2]

Fermentation still seems to be going quite well after 5 days. Its a brew house cream ale on Wyeast 1007 german ale with a couple litres short on the top up water. OG was 1.060 not exactly sure where I should get to, somewhere near 1.020 I suppose. I cant get a read on my hydrometer though, when I drop the meter in the cylinder, it foams up like mad and covers the gauge. It tastes pretty good, I'm happy about that. Nice bright fruity flavours with a sort of smooth malt just under that. A little tickle of carbonation right now which is causing the flare of head. The krausen is quite heavy and thick.

I just bottled a pilsner from the same company following the kit instructions to the letter and it seemed much less vigorous on the main ferment, though I used the Cooper's yeast that came with it. Had no trouble reading the hydrometer though.

I do plan on letting it settle out in a bright tank for the better part of two weeks before bottling. I like a very clear beer without too much sediment and I want to free up some equipment for a couple other brews, like EdWort's apfelwein, which will hog a spot for a month at least.

I suppose I'll just have to shut up and have a beer, rack it this weekend maybe.

5 days is a bit early to be checking gravity...I usually dont check until its at least day 10 and all airlock activity has stopped(but its not a reliable indicator) If when you drop your hydrometer in ( a test jar of unfinished beer) if it foams , take the sample and let it settle down before testing. and always read the scale at the miniscus .

 

[MMM2]

and while you are at it: check your beer's temperature to enable you to correctly interpret the number you were reading.