Too soon to check gravity?

[MisterOJ]

I brewed an ESB on Saturday afternoon and fermentation had started by Sunday morning. By Sunday night, it was really working, same for Monday morning. By Monday night it had slowed down a lot and now, it has nearly stopped all together. I just saw two bubbles in about 2-plus minutes of watching it.

Assuming I don't see an increase in activity when I get home from work tonight, would it be okay to go ahead and check the gravity? Or should I wait another day or two?

Also, I had been planning on leaving it in primary for three weeks before bottling. If it's pretty much finished fermenting already, would three weeks even be necessary? Or could I bottle after two?

Thanks!

 

[Revvy]

You can check the gravity whenever you feel the need to...that's the point of doing it to tell you at what point of the beer's fermentation journey it is at, how close to terminal gravity it is. That's the only reliable way to know about your beer. Not looking at "activity" or anything. They are all flawed, the only consistent thing to pay attention to is gravity

 

[HopSong]

I think it's OK to check gravity at any time.. Too soon may well be unproductive. I'd personally wait for a week. Then once in another week using any necessary temp corrections for the hydrometer. Leave it in the primary for 3+ weeks and bottle.

Sorry for the dupe.. Looks like Revvy beat me to the punch..

 

[MisterOJ]

You can check the gravity whenever you feel the need to...that's the point of doing it to tell you at what point of the beer's fermentation journey it is at, how close to terminal gravity it is. That's the only reliable way to know about your beer. Not looking at "activity" or anything. They are all flawed, the only consistent thing to pay attention to is gravity

Thanks. I'm still really new to this and just sort of assumed I should wait to check gravity until it had settled down a bit.

Here's another really noob question. As long as my test tube, beer thief and hydrometer are all sterilized - do I carefully pour the sample back in or just toss it out?

 

[HopSong]

Drink it.. but, don't pour it back...

 

[Huisache]

Drink it. It is really nice to get a preview of the finished product.

 

[daksin]

Yea, even if it's only been in sanitized vessels, it's definitely a much better idea to not put it back. It's not enough to make a difference in the total volume, plus you can drink it!