Can someone please provide some education about gravity readings…just read an article claiming that “action” in the fermenter is a false way to gauge a good fermentation. The claim was simply that the only way to tell is to do a gravity reading…which also opens up the possibility of infection if it is done during the primary fermentation. Is there a gravity checking schedule that can be used? Should it be pre-boil/ post-boil/ 2-weeks in/ racking to secondary? Thanks
My thoughts are that “gravity checks” are not needed. This is my opinion, and something I have moved toward over the time I have brewed. Basically, I like to avoid “touching” my beer as much as humanly possible, and gravity checks just seem like an unnecessary step. I make that statement in the context of the following though:
1.) I always make starters and pitch a good quantity of healthy yeast.
2.) I oxygenate with pure O2 and use yeast nutrient
3.) I control fermentation temps, usually on the lower end of ranges.
4.) I feel I have a very good grasp on my sanitation
5.) I go with a 3 week primary before bottling/kegging
6.) BIG beers, may require more time, secondary, etc.
My opinion/experience is that if you start with good, healthy yeast, and you provide 3 weeks at the right temperature your yeast will ALWAYS do their job. I have never had a beer not work its way down to where it should. I do take a gravity reading at three weeks when I am getting ready to bottle/keg - just to confirm… but, like I said - given the right start and conditions, yeast just don’t screw up.
I would take a gravity at end of boil (Original Gravity) and a reading at three weeks when I bottle or keg (Final Gravity). If you are moving beer to secondary or something, also a time to check gravity if you want. I avoid the “Open fermenter and take gravity reading on multiple consecutive days” thing.
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As long as you have sanitation down, and have enough extra beer in your fermentor; I would take two, maybe three, gravity readings from the fermentor. One when you think it’s done, and one two days later. Then you can keg or bottle or transfer for secondary/ageing if the beer requires it.
Of course if you are aging the beer then it’s nice to take another gravity/ tasting sample before keging or bottleing. If you are making a sour or fruit beer you would probably also be a good idea to take readings to make sure fermentation is done before you bottle.
I take a gravity reading when I rack from my kettle into a fermentor and then again when racking into a keg 2-4 weeks later. That is it. I sanitize properly. I pitch properly. I regulate fermentation temperatures.
I also take a post boil reading after it’s cooled to check my efficiency, unless I brew an extract batch. I don’t check it again until week three.
I just take a post-boil reading to make sure I hit my intended OG and then don’t usually take another one at all. I tend not to hurry my fermentation- I rarely keg before 4 weeks of fermentation. At that time I’m more interested in the taste of the beer, not the FG.
I pull a sample from the kettle post boil and let it cool in the hydrometer jar (tube?). I don’t brew really big beers and based on my observations these past 15 - 16 years I feel comfortable that the beers have fermented out after 3 -4 weeks. I’ll usually take another reading on bottling/kegging day. I want to see how close I came to the estimated FG, calculate abv, etc. I don’t remember ever having a beer that I thought I should set aside for another week because it hadn’t fermented out.
For me it depends on which beer I am making. I check my usual house beers less than a new beer so I can learn how the new beer changes over time. I have spigots on the fermenting buckets which makes checking the gravity a non issue. I usually increase the size of the batch to compensate for loss during gravity checks. I always check pre and post boil and usually at 1 week. From there it just depends on the beer…
The beer will tell you when it is ready. No need to rush things. Some very good advice from the comments above. Taking gravity readings is usually not necessary until the day you transfer to secondary, keg or bottle.
[quote=“Braufessor”]My thoughts are that “gravity checks” are not needed. This is my opinion, and something I have moved toward over the time I have brewed. Basically, I like to avoid “touching” my beer as much as humanly possible, and gravity checks just seem like an unnecessary step. I make that statement in the context of the following though:
1.) I always make starters and pitch a good quantity of healthy yeast.
2.) I oxygenate with pure O2 and use yeast nutrient
3.) I control fermentation temps, usually on the lower end of ranges.
4.) I feel I have a very good grasp on my sanitation
5.) I go with a 3 week primary before bottling/kegging
6.) BIG beers, may require more time, secondary, etc.
My opinion/experience is that if you start with good, healthy yeast, and you provide 3 weeks at the right temperature your yeast will ALWAYS do their job. I have never had a beer not work its way down to where it should. I do take a gravity reading at three weeks when I am getting ready to bottle/keg - just to confirm… but, like I said - given the right start and conditions, yeast just don’t screw up.
I would take a gravity at end of boil (Original Gravity) and a reading at three weeks when I bottle or keg (Final Gravity). If you are moving beer to secondary or something, also a time to check gravity if you want. I avoid the “Open fermenter and take gravity reading on multiple consecutive days” thing.[/quote]
You probably have a lot of experience brewing the same beers but for someone like myself a final gravity reading is important so I know if I need to make recipe or mash temp adjustments. I find it a good learning tool.
