Cloudiness in beer and hydrometer questions

[Deon Botha]

Is it necessary to add something (like finnings) to your beer to help catch all the solids and clear up your beer, or will that happen naturally over a couple of weeks? I'm just worried about causing harm to the brew by exposing the brew to bacteria when opening the fermenter to add the finnings.

Then a silly question about the hydrometer. So they say not to bottle your beer if the reading is less than 1006, otherwise the bottles might burst. So my question is this: Is 1007 lower than 1006 or is 1007 higher than 1006? All I'm trying to understand is which way around the numbers work.

 

[davidabcd]

Hydrometer first: 1.007 is higher. For example, a couple weeks after you make your beer you get a 1.006 reading on Monday and the same reading on Wednesday. That would mean it's done fermenting and safe to bottle. The readings will go down as the yeast turns sugar into alcohol. Alcohol is less dense and so the hydrometer sinks.
Say your Original Gravity (OG) is 1.060. If you ferment at the correct temp with the correct amount of yeast, the beer will end up after two weeks, for example, at 1.010 for the Final Gravity (FG).

I agree that you should open the fermenter only when necessary. I don't use finings or anything like that. I use refrigeration after the bottles have been carbonated. Someone will come along and help you with that.

 

[bucketnative]

Then a silly question about the hydrometer. So they say not to bottle your beer if the reading is less than 1006, otherwise the bottles might burst. So my question is this: Is 1007 lower than 1006 or is 1007 higher than 1006? All I'm trying to understand is which way around the numbers work.

Who is they??? I have never heard this. Beer is routinely bottled at specific gravities less than 1.006 (I've had saisons finish at 1.000). The question of whether a beer is ready to bottle is answered by the change in gravity. If your specific gravity is close to your expected final number, and it doesn't change for 3 days (take a reading on day 1, then measure 3 days later), it's most likely ready to prime and bottle.

 

[odie]

bottle after any stable final gravity readings...the beer is done.

priming with too much sugar is what causes bottles to burst. I was gone once and my roomie bottled for me. I left him a teaspoon for 1 liter bottles and he used a table spoon...I lost several bottles and had one blow and cut me with flying glass from across the room...

 

[Deon Botha]

Who is they??? I have never heard this. Beer is routinely bottled at specific gravities less than 1.006 (I've had saisons finish at 1.000). The question of whether a beer is ready to bottle is answered by the change in gravity. If your specific gravity is close to your expected final number, and it doesn't change for 3 days (take a reading on day 1, then measure 3 days later), it's most likely ready to prime and bottle.

Who is they??? I have never heard this. Beer is routinely bottled at specific gravities less than 1.006 (I've had saisons finish at 1.000). The question of whether a beer is ready to bottle is answered by the change in gravity. If your specific gravity is close to your expected final number, and it doesn't change for 3 days (take a reading on day 1, then measure 3 days later), it's most likely ready to prime and bottle.

"They" refers to the instructions on the kit. Thank you for the info.