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Date: 16 Nov 2006 11:31:51
From:
Subject: Newbie Question
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Ive just started my first homebrew. I wanted to start simple so its
froma syrup base. My question is in my instructions it says i need to
test the wort with a hydrometer for 2 days running so i know when to
bottle.
As this is being brewed in a tub with lid, is it ok to remove lid to do
this or should i pour some from the tap on the tub into a glass to test
?
Any other tips appretiated.
Many Thanks
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Date: 16 Nov 2006 14:16:39
From:
Subject: Re: Newbie Question
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Many thanks for the advise. Ill take a sample tomorrow evening using a
steralised jar. I took an initial gravity reasing which was 1.031 at
22C.
I shall let you know how it goes.
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Date: 16 Nov 2006 12:20:32
From: brian@yahoo.com
Subject: Re: Newbie Question
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On Nov 16, 2:53 pm, "Sportinus" <sporti...@yahoo.com > wrote:
> On Nov 16, 1:31 pm, callieandm...@yahoo.co.uk wrote:
>
> > Ive just started my first homebrew. I wanted to start simple so its
> > froma syrup base. My question is in my instructions it says i need to
> > test the wort with a hydrometer for 2 days running so i know when to
> > bottle.
> > As this is being brewed in a tub with lid, is it ok to remove lid to do
> > this or should i pour some from the tap on the tub into a glass to test
> > ?
> > Any other tips appretiated.
> > Many ThanksI only have a few batches under my belt, but I will chime in anyways ;)
> Did you take a reading whne you first poured the wort into your
> fermenter? No big deal if you did not, it would just give you an
> starting point to gauge where the fermenting is at. You are looking
> for several days where the reading does not change, and assuming the
> reading is where you think it should be down to (no stuck fermenattion)
> then you should be able to bottle. Now here is where I will
> speculate if you fill your test jar from the spigot and it is not full
> of trub (trub is the sediment at the bottom of the fermenter) then you
> should be able to get a good reading. Depending of the style and yeast
> it may take a while before it is reday to bottle. There are many good
> and knowledgable people in this group, I'm sure an expert will chime.
> Hope your brew turns out well.
In a nutshell you want to remove enough beer from the fermenter to fill
the test jar that came with the hydrometer. You don't want to float
the hydrometer in the bucket, but instead take out a sample and test
the sample. Do not return the sample to the bucket as it has potential
to be contaminated. I would think that as long as you can get some
clear beer to run from the spigot (you may have to toss the first 1-2
samples if they have a lot of trub) that will work fine. Before
opening the spigot, remove the airlock from the bucket as the beer
pouring out will draw a vacuum in the bucket and possibly suck the
airlock water back into the bucket (no necessarily good!).
If the spigot is not working then you will need a thief of some sort to
take out some beer. Sanitize a length of tubing and use it to siphon
out some beer into the test jar. If you have an auto-siphon, then it
works great as a thief. Just take out the inner part and drop the
outer part into the beer like normal. The little valve at the bottom
will hold the beer in the tube when you take it back out. Just pour it
into the test jar at that point. The important part here is to
sanitize anything hat goes in the bucket and then replace the lid when
you are done.
I also suggest you taste the sample a bit before dumping it as it will
be your first glimpse of your beer and let you know how things went.
It will also give you a feel for what carbonation and aging do for a
beer. Do not be alarmed if it doesn't taste too great as just a couple
of weeks of aging during carbonation will change the beer dramatically.
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Date: 16 Nov 2006 14:14:58
From: Wayne
Subject: Re: Newbie Question
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callieandmark@yahoo.co.uk wrote:
> Ive just started my first homebrew. I wanted to start simple so its
> froma syrup base. My question is in my instructions it says i need to
> test the wort with a hydrometer for 2 days running so i know when to
> bottle.
> As this is being brewed in a tub with lid, is it ok to remove lid to do
> this or should i pour some from the tap on the tub into a glass to test
> ?
> Any other tips appretiated.
> Many Thanks
>
Taking the lid off won't create a problem unless you have a fan blowing
on it or the dog stops by to take a drink. Just sanitize a turkey
baster to draw off a sample. Lacking that, you can even sanitize a
measuring cup and dip out a sample, since you are fermenting in a
bucket. Taking a sample for the tap generally doesn't work well as you
will get a lot of yeast and other trub.
Wayne
Bugeater Brewing Company
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Date: 17 Nov 2006 07:49:02
From: Stoutman
Subject: Re: Newbie Question
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>Just sanitize a turkey baster to draw off a sample.
LOL... I use a turkey baster as a 'thief'! Works well enough and it's
cheap! :)
Good to see I'm not the only one.
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Date: 17 Nov 2006 01:57:02
From: Bob F
Subject: Re: Newbie Question
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"Stoutman" <jynnxt@g..nospam..mail.com > wrote in message
news:Xns987DF23BC10E5jynnxtgmailcom@199.45.49.11...
> >Just sanitize a turkey baster to draw off a sample.
>
> LOL... I use a turkey baster as a 'thief'! Works well enough and it's
> cheap! :)
>
> Good to see I'm not the only one.
>
I use a two hole stopper on my measurement vial, with two hoses
attached. Sanitize one hose and drop the end into the beer. Set the
vial beside the fermenter, and suck on the other tube until you have
almost enough sample then pull the hose out of the beer as you continue
to suck until the hose is empty.. This prevents beer returning to the
fermenter.
This works even through the airlock hole in the top of a bucket. It's cheap,
easy to sanitize, no mess, and low risk for contamination, in my opinion.
I always worried about the turkey baster, as the rubber bulb is
not easy to sanitize, and I always had beer dribble out of it back
into the fermenter, and everywhere on the way to the sample vial.
Bob
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Date: 16 Nov 2006 11:53:17
From: Sportinus
Subject: Re: Newbie Question
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On Nov 16, 1:31 pm, callieandm...@yahoo.co.uk wrote:
> Ive just started my first homebrew. I wanted to start simple so its
> froma syrup base. My question is in my instructions it says i need to
> test the wort with a hydrometer for 2 days running so i know when to
> bottle.
> As this is being brewed in a tub with lid, is it ok to remove lid to do
> this or should i pour some from the tap on the tub into a glass to test
> ?
> Any other tips appretiated.
> Many Thanks
I only have a few batches under my belt, but I will chime in anyways ;)
Did you take a reading whne you first poured the wort into your
fermenter? No big deal if you did not, it would just give you an
starting point to gauge where the fermenting is at. You are looking
for several days where the reading does not change, and assuming the
reading is where you think it should be down to (no stuck fermenattion)
then you should be able to bottle. Now here is where I will
speculate if you fill your test jar from the spigot and it is not full
of trub (trub is the sediment at the bottom of the fermenter) then you
should be able to get a good reading. Depending of the style and yeast
it may take a while before it is reday to bottle. There are many good
and knowledgable people in this group, I'm sure an expert will chime.
Hope your brew turns out well.
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Date: 21 Nov 2006 18:56:00
From: John 'Shaggy' Kolesar
Subject: Re: Newbie Question
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On 16 Nov 2006 11:53:17 -0800, <sportinus@yahoo.com > wrote:
> then you should be able to bottle. Now here is where I will
> speculate if you fill your test jar from the spigot and it is not full
> of trub (trub is the sediment at the bottom of the fermenter) then you
> should be able to get a good reading.
Based on most fermentation buckets that I've seen, the spigot is usually
installed high enough that trub shouldn't be an issue.
John.
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Date: 21 Nov 2006 18:53:24
From: John 'Shaggy' Kolesar
Subject: Re: Newbie Question
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On 16 Nov 2006 11:31:51 -0800, <callieandmark@yahoo.co.uk > wrote:
> Ive just started my first homebrew. I wanted to start simple so its
> froma syrup base. My question is in my instructions it says i need to
> test the wort with a hydrometer for 2 days running so i know when to
> bottle.
> As this is being brewed in a tub with lid, is it ok to remove lid to do
> this or should i pour some from the tap on the tub into a glass to test
> ?
> Any other tips appretiated.
Either way is fine, but I think you'll find that taking a sample from the
spigot (tap) might be a little easier than taking a sample from the top,
unless you have something like a wine thief. I wouldn't just drop the
hydrometer into the bucket from the top. Usually there's some left over
foam (krausen) as well as bubbles, yeast, and all sorts of gunk that can sit
around on top of the beer after it's been fermenting. That would make
taking an accurate reading difficult. IMO, it's best to take a sample to
another container for doing the SG reading.
John.
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