Couple questions

[Dunkelman]

Hi all,

I've been away from brewing for a couple years, and have just gotten back into it and have a couple questions.

First, I missed checking the final gravity on a batch I just bottled (an DME kit oatmeal stout). Can I open one of the new bottles and check it still or am I out of luck. I just bottled this batch yesterday.

Second, I just brewed an imperial stout today and have the fermenting bucket in the basement where the temperature is pretty constant of between 68 and 70 degrees. We do spend a lot of time in the basement watching TV. Will fluorescent light be bad for the beer as its fermenting?

 

[beertroll]

You can definitely pop one of the bottles to take a reading. It won't be completely accurate because of the priming sugar and any bottle conditioning activity, but it will be fairly close.

Any light source that produces UV can skunk hops. If the stout is in a glass carboy or other clear vessel, just throw a tshirt over it and you'll be fine. If it's in a bucket, you don't have anything to worry about from the lights. The bigger problem is your ambient temperature. That's fairly warm to begin with, and with all that sugar in an imperial stout your yeast will produce a bunch of heat as well. Next time you brew a big beer like that, try to find a way to get that temp down a bit, whether you just turn down the thermostat or make a swamp cooler.

 

[PoorInRain]

You could open a bottle and do a hydrometer check, but then you wouldn't get do drink any of it. I would wait until they are nice and carbed, then wait for a day that I only want a taste of beer or maybe have a friend that doesn't want a whole bottle. Fill the testing tube with the beer and let it sit out for a few hours until the carbonation is gone, then do the reading. That way you can drink whatever you don't put in the tube. The only reason you want to check now is because your antsy. I get it. I am stingy with beer and I would hate to open a bottle just to waste it.

Fluorescent light is bad. Throw a blanket or towel over your bottles. Not much effort there. RDWHAHB.

 

[TipsyDragon]

1. Your going to have to wait till it's done carbonating before you can get a reading. You added sugar to prime which upped your SG reading. As the yeast carbonate they will bring it back down. Just let the beer go completely flat as possible before taking a reading.

2. What are you fermenting in? If it's a bucket then there is nothing to worry about. If it's a glass carboy throw a blanket over it.

 

[Dunkelman]

Thanks guys, it's fermenting a plastic bucket. I don't like the glass carboys so much because it's more difficult to move the beer from the brew pot into a carboy when compared to a bucket.

Regarding Beertroll's comment about the ambient temp being a bit high at 68-70 degrees, the instructions call for fermenting in an area that's 64 to 72 degrees, so I figured it'd be just right. I did, however, move the fermenter to the unfinished part of the basement (concrete floor) where the temperature is about 66.

I'll just wait until the bottles are properly carbed up then get the final gravity.

Thanks again all.

 

[beertroll]

Fermentation temperature is one of those areas where kit instructions fall short, in my opinion. They generally just list the recommended temperature for the yeast without taking into account the heat generated by the fermentation process itself. The temperature in the center of the bucket is going to be several degrees higher than the ambient air temperature, particularly with a high gravity beer like a RIS.

 

[Dunkelman]

Got it, BT. Thanks for the help.

 

[Trox]

One thing to remember in the future is you don't want to bottle until you have take a FG reading then waiting 3-4 days and taking another one to make sure it is stabilized. Even though the instructions might say it is done, the yeast can always have its own ideas and just be taking tis own sweet time.