If oxydation is bad...

[deucedaily]

Then what is the best way to check the gravity during fermentation? I am fermenting in a plastic bucket. I have it in a very still place with a fairly constant temperature, so I wait until the bubbling slows to once every 2 mins or so, then wait an extra day or 2. I know that is not the best way, but I was always worried about contamination by opening the lid, grabbing samples, etc.

[BrewDog]

Welcome-

You are right, you need to be VERY careful about sanitation at this stage. Give the beer time so you don't try to draw too many samples. When you do, use a theif or something like a turkey baster to grab your sample.

Do not return the sample to the fermenter or you risk contamination.

A refractometer makes taking these readings easier. You only need a few drops of liquid as opposed to enough to float a hydrometer.

HTH-

[treiz]

that's pretty funny, i just posted this same question right above yours. so i too would like to know if anybody has any thoughts on the safest way to take a sample without a spigot on the bucket and without removing the lid.

-tre

[dparsons]

Kinda hard without a spigot or lid.

[stronk]

I've seen people who leave a hydrometer in their fermenting beer/wine. But that's not the best way, because it'll get covered in crap at the liquid line, where you need to read it, and be floated by clinging bubbles. Still, you'd need clear plastic or glass to be able to see it.

My suggestion is to siphon some out of the airlock hole, if you're that worried; just make sure there's nothing around the bung that will fall into the beer.

[Saint-Thomas]

If you siphon, don't forget that air will move in to take its place. If you want to reduce your chances of contamination, use one of the bungs with two ports, and push the beer out using a air through a HEPA filter, and/or use CO2.

That said, I just take the bung out and use a wine thief after spraying the area liberally with a sanitizer and waiting 15-30 seconds. My new refractometer should be here any day now...

[HogieWan]

why not just wait until to transfer to secondary?

[MrNate]

I was just wondering the same thing. Not that I know what I'm doing or anything, but I've yet to take a gravity reading before racking to secondary. Seems completely unnecessary. I suppose if you were trying to speed things along with a short primary and going right to bottling then it would make sense, but that doesn't seem like such a hot idea to me.

I think every brewer should brew one batch without using a hydrometer at all. Hell, one of these days I'm going to do an old-school brew session. No thermometer, no timer, no hydrometer, no airlock, no measuring or weighing, open fermentation. Just hot water and grain.

[corkybstewart]

This is one reason I rarely use a glass carboy for primary, I like to know how things are going.
You can sterilize a piece of tubing, stick it in the beer and remove it with your thumb over the end. You may have to repeat a couple of times to get enough to sample.
As BD says, don't put it back. Drink it, its a good way to get used to some of the off tastes that beer has before it's finished so you don't get panicky.
But BD, a refractometer is not very good after the beer is fermenting unless you have a program to convert the readings.
The reason I test before racking to secondary is that I've had a few big beers need a little boost halfway thru the fermentation process. If I had racked using a set schedule or airlock activity I'd have ended up with very sweet, nasty beer.

[BrewDog]

Originally posted by corkybstewart
But BD, a refractometer is not very good after the beer is fermenting unless you have a program to convert the readings.

Agreed. You can calculate the formula by hand, but the software makes it a lot easier.

Here's a link to the formula. (http://www.primetab.com/formulas)

Final Specific Gravity from original and final Brix
SG = 1.001843 - 0.002318474*OB - 0.000007775*OB*OB - 0.000000034*OB*OB*OB + 0.00574*FB + 0.00003344*FB*FB + 0.000000086*FB*FB*FB

where:

SG = estimated specific gravity of the sample
OB = Original Brix
FB = Final Brix

HTH-

[Vienna Lager]

When in doubt just remember '1-2-3'.

[Saint-Thomas]

Originally posted by Vienna Lager
When in doubt just remember '1-2-3'.
This doesn't always apply. I have a 1.088 Belgian Golden strong ale which is 11 days into a hearty sized krausen, I will clarify/age it for at least three weeks. Yes, this is a high gravity beer, so example two: I had a 1.048 bitter get stuck at 1.026 for several weeks and I did everything to get it going again. I finally added Chico yeast and bottled after a total of 5 weeks. It is way sweet, almost unpleasantly so.

Of course, I may simply be trying to justify my gear-headedness-- :D

[corkybstewart]

Originally posted by Saint-Thomas
This doesn't always apply. I have a 1.088 Belgian Golden strong ale which is 11 days into a hearty sized krausen, I will clarify/age it for at least three weeks. Yes, this is a high gravity beer, so example two: I had a 1.048 bitter get stuck at 1.026 for several weeks and I did everything to get it going again. I finally added Chico yeast and bottled after a total of 5 weeks. It is way sweet, almost unpleasantly so.

Of course, I may simply be trying to justify my gear-headedness-- :D

I completely agree. 1-2-3 may work most of the time, but certainly not always. And when it doesn't work, you've wasted a lot of beer that could have been saved with a little fore knowledge. My standard is 2-4 in primary, then keg and let it sit a while, but only if my hydrometer tells me the beer is ready.

[HogieWan]

I have a thermometer on my conical with a 4" probe so I know the actual beer temp. I know primary is over because all of a sudden the temp drops 5-8 degrees. For most brews, I dump the trub and let it sit for a week. Then I turn the temp controller on the fridge down to 28. When the beer reaches 35, I let it sit for 3 days then rack to the keg.

[Vienna Lager]

As is true with any 'Rule of Thumb' there are exceptions to the rule. My '1-2-3' comment was meant to function as a guide within a known set of parameters. ie a standard gravity lager-ale with not too many adjuncts, spices, fruits, essences etc.etc.

[hicks107]

Originally posted by corkybstewart
This is one reason I rarely use a glass carboy for primary, I like to know how things are going.
You can sterilize a piece of tubing, stick it in the beer and remove it with your thumb over the end. You may have to repeat a couple of times to get enough to sample.

Corky, Im confused. Why wouldnt you be able to know how things are going if you use a glass carboy? And why wouldnt you be able to take a sample using your method in a glass carboy?

[corkybstewart]

Originally posted by hicks107
Corky, Im confused. Why wouldnt you be able to know how things are going if you use a glass carboy? And why wouldnt you be able to take a sample using your method in a glass carboy?

Almost all of my fermenters have spigots so I can easily and often take hydrometer readings with little risk of contamination. My method certainly would work in a carboy, it's just too much trouble for me. My big hangup with carboys is safety, that's all. I had one slip out of my hands while I was cleaning it. Somehow it bounced off my foot onto the tiled kitchen floor and didn't break, but if it had been full it would have been very different. I use a glass carboy for things like mead or braggot, they ferment for months and I usually only make 5 gallon batches of them so the carboy is perfect.

[Mad Scientist]

I have also had many near mishaps with carboys, and one broken (empty, but we were in the process of readying the CFC...), but I have been lucky.

[barleyburps]

I've always fermented in buckets and pull samples by sanitizing a measuring cup and dipping out enough for a sample. While primary fermentation is going on, if you have a lid covering the bucket (airlock, or not - I personally never use one), you will have a layer of CO2 sitting on top of the beer. As long as you don't move the liquid around much, you shouldn't have any problems with oxidation, or contamination.

On the same issue, when I'm fermenting lagers in my fridge, I always scrape the krausen from the top for the first few days, and again, have never had a problem with Oxidation, or contamination as a result.

And the reason I've always done it this way is because I learned to do it while working in a brewpub under a german brewmaster in the late '80s. All of our beers were lagers and were fermented in open vessels with no covers.

So I say, don't worry so much about this issue.

[Quin]

Originally posted by barleyburps
So I say, don't worry so much about this issue.

Agreed. I guess I'm breaking several "rules."

I open the lid on the plastic fermenter and insert the hydrometer directly into the fermenter (after swabbing liberally with rubbing alcohol). I usually don't check until I'm ready to transfer to secondary. By that point the beer is around 5% alcohol, so there is no chance of bacterial contamination at that point.

I don't see the difference in inserting a hydrometer, measuring cup, wine thief, tubing, etc. into the thermometer.

[SirVeza]

Agreed,

Not only is the alcohol content working as a santizer, the pH of the beer will be around 4 by now and it's not easy for things to get a foothold in that environment. OK, you don't want a fly or piece of spinach from dinner to fly off your shirt and into your wort.

Having said that, I still love playing the paranoid scientist!

I went to the vets and got a big 100ml irrigation syringe and attached a foot and a half of 3/8" food-grade tubing to it. It looks scary and and impresses anyone I show my brewing setup to.

Cheers,

Dan