So we are NEWBIES. We brewed a st paul porter and the og was 1.052. when we took a reading b4 moving to the carboy (one week in) it was 1.012. Its been in the CB for two weeks... still getting a few bubbles in the air lock, but not a lot. We want to bottle this weekend so we just tried to take a gravity reading...now granted the beer thief tube we bought is leaking like a sieve while we are trying to do this....but we are getting a 1.030! What the heck! I took a pic with the phone (se attached). Even when I make a temp adjustment (per the hydrometer instructions) it makes it 1.031. how is this possible?! Do u think the beer thief leaking while trying to read it threw it off? there also may have been some drops of water in the hydrometer from cleaning/sanitizing, does that matter? any thoughts? thanks!
Help - our gravity reading makes no sense!
- Thread starter Jkrags
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First thought is that it is not possible for the gravity to go up. So, either the 1.012 reading was off, or the 1.030 reading was. I suspect that you have 1.012 or so. You will have to get a tube that doesn't leak and try again to be sure. What about the tube that the hydrometer comes in?
No pic attached.... You need to use a site like Photobucket or Flickr. You then link to the picture url.
No pic attached.... You need to use a site like Photobucket or Flickr. You then link to the picture url.
I don't know if this feature is available for non forum supporters, but I'm able to upload attachments and display them inline.
It's the paperclip icon above the editing window.
That one is for a text file. I don't know if it works with a pic, I don't think so. For the pictures you need to use the Icon to the right of that one that looks like mountains.
Actually I think you can do an attachment with that, if you want the picture to show without opening an attachment it is the other one.
Actually I think you can do an attachment with that, if you want the picture to show without opening an attachment it is the other one.
It's the paperclip in mine. Click the paperclip, an upload window appears. Choose the file to upload, then close that window. Click the paperclip again and click the filename you want to insert (you can have more than one). Like so:
Once you learn how to do attachments like this it's so much easier than uploading to a host site then using the link.
Once you learn how to do attachments like this it's so much easier than uploading to a host site then using the link.
EcuPirate07
Beer is a food group
Easiest way is to upload onto photo bucket or something similar and copy the image link. I think as a noob you have to have a certain post count before you can load pics from here. I could be wrong though.
Your beer is going to have at least some carbonation in it, since CO2 is a product of fermentation. If there is enough in your sample, it can come out of solution when you put your hydrometer in and cause it to float higher than it should.
To degas mine, I just put my hand over the top of the sample tube and give it a brief shake. I pop the tube in the fridge for a bit to get the liquid down to 60 degrees (or whatever your hydrometer is calibrated to) and then take the reading.
ChemErik
Well-Known Member
One easy thing to check is if you had enough beer in the hydrometer for the 1.030 reading. It's easy to think a beer is at higher gravity but it's just the hydrometer resting on the bottom of the sample tube.
meatcleaver
Well-Known Member
you took a pic with your phone? Android?
when you choose your file(pic) make sure to scroll down & click "upload"
then close window & submit reply.
when you choose your file(pic) make sure to scroll down & click "upload"
then close window & submit reply.
Thanks for all your suggestions! I am going to try and get a new thief today that doesnt leak, and make sure I have enough sample. I was going to use a turkey baster and put it into the tube for our siphon (smartly i marked the outside with a sharpie using water as my test to get the right amount). BUT it looks like the baster wont go into the car boy far enough? and I dont want to to open it again and risk the beer only to have another FAIL. I will also "de-gas" as well.
I figured out how to attach the pic. - see attached.
I dunno--are you sure that hydrometer is not sitting on the bottom?
I need to have much more beer in the hydrometer when checking for FG than I do when I check for OG. Being denser, the wort at OG causes the hydrometer to float higher in the cylinder--thus the higher reading on the hydrometer.
There is a lot of head space above the level of the beer.
I need to have much more beer in the hydrometer when checking for FG than I do when I check for OG. Being denser, the wort at OG causes the hydrometer to float higher in the cylinder--thus the higher reading on the hydrometer.
There is a lot of head space above the level of the beer.
So I have to say a friend suggested we come on this forum...or A forum, I should say, and it was the best idea ever!! Everyone is SO helpful, we always feel like we are the blind leading the blind with this new brewing hobby.
So I definitely think you guys are right we did not have enough of a sample in the tube to get an accurate reading. But it was very difficult to get enough beer into the tube using the thief from the carboy to bring it up to the level we marked with our sharpie...we came very close and as you'll see in the pictures the hydrometer was definitely floating. So now that we've gotten past that problem, and I know it's hard to see from the picture but the reading was definitely closer to the original gravity rather than the final gravity so is it possible we didn't measure it right when we put it in the carboy? I don't think so because we put the hydrometer DIRECTLY into the fermenting bucket. Odd right? But, It was a very slow fermentation and we did not see a lot of activity in the airlock at all for the first week at all we saw more activity when we put it in the carboy and we are definitely still getting bubbles in the airlock (you can see from one of the pictures I uploaded this am). It girgles maybe once an hour or two. So in your opinions do you think we should let this rest another week or two before bottle?
So I definitely think you guys are right we did not have enough of a sample in the tube to get an accurate reading. But it was very difficult to get enough beer into the tube using the thief from the carboy to bring it up to the level we marked with our sharpie...we came very close and as you'll see in the pictures the hydrometer was definitely floating. So now that we've gotten past that problem, and I know it's hard to see from the picture but the reading was definitely closer to the original gravity rather than the final gravity so is it possible we didn't measure it right when we put it in the carboy? I don't think so because we put the hydrometer DIRECTLY into the fermenting bucket. Odd right? But, It was a very slow fermentation and we did not see a lot of activity in the airlock at all for the first week at all we saw more activity when we put it in the carboy and we are definitely still getting bubbles in the airlock (you can see from one of the pictures I uploaded this am). It girgles maybe once an hour or two. So in your opinions do you think we should let this rest another week or two before bottle?
meatcleaver
Well-Known Member
I'm thinking maybe the first time you checked & got 1.012 that you somehow got a bad measurement & it was actually closer to 1.030.
then you racked to secondary (early) & now it's still slowly fermenting on its way to fg.
I would leave this alone for a while... maybe check your gravity in another week or 2.
in the meantime invest in a good thief & proper test jar.
then you racked to secondary (early) & now it's still slowly fermenting on its way to fg.
I would leave this alone for a while... maybe check your gravity in another week or 2.
in the meantime invest in a good thief & proper test jar.
meatcleaver
Well-Known Member
I have this & love it. it's the same type of material as Pyrex.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006UKIB0A/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006UKIB0A/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
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^^this^^
Definitely get a good thief and a proper sample jar. Also, you might get a gallon (or less) of distilled water from the grocery store. Your hydrometer should read 1.00 in DI water...just to be sure the hydrometer isn't slipping, or some other weirdness.
Post 13, your image of the airlock, may not be the poster child for an active fermentation, but it's definitely active. I don't touch a fermenter until the airlocks stop bubbling completely...not even a sitting bubble in the airlock...it needs to be quiet for at least a week, which usually occurs around 4weeks. Usually. YMMV
I think Meatcleaver is on to something here; you racked to the secondary early, so now you have a fraction of the yeast trying to finish the job. I would wait this one out, meaning I'd wait until I had no bubbles in the airlock for at least a week, and maybe 2...so this may be 2-3 weeks from now. It's going to take the time it needs at this point.
My brew partner and I cracked open a Fat Tire clone last night for bottling; 4 weeks in the fermenter, no airlock activity. We were a little early...the sample still tasted good (for green beer), but there was yeast clumps still floating, and tiny bubbles coming up a little more regularly than I wanted to see. It could have stayed another week, but there's good news: we made a Fat Tire clone, and it's going to be awesome lol...
Rule #1: RDWHAHB. The rest is just details.
chickypad
lupulin shift victim
Wait, the second pic looks like about 1.020, at least guessing from how far under the liquid the 1.030 mark is. Kind of a horrible pic with the flash and these are so close up it's hard to see what you are doing. I agree with the others get a regular test jar and calibrate your hydrometer. Then take a pic of the whole thing and post it if you still can't figure it out.
I'm sure I'll get jeered, but I built this incredibly inexpensive thing to yoink samples from my glass carboys:
I punched two holes in a washed-out pasta sauce jar lid, popped in a couple lengths of 3/8" hose that were going to get tossed anyway (discoloration/age). I pop the end of my bottling wand off, and stick that in to one of the hoses. StarSan the wand in and out for a bit, then it's business time! I stick the wand down in to the carboy, and suck gently (lololol) on the other hose (not mouth, but lungs).
Once I get enough, I lift the wand out of the beer and gently continue the suction until I can clear the wand out of the carboy (as to not let any beer fall back in). I have the capture cylinder marked off (two black lines on the jar) to the max necessary fill level of my hydrometer tube, so there's never an issue with not having enough for a measurement.
This is probably over-complicated, but I just couldn't find another way that I was comfortable with. Since all of the materials were recycled or already available, it was pretty much a net-zero-cost thing.
I punched two holes in a washed-out pasta sauce jar lid, popped in a couple lengths of 3/8" hose that were going to get tossed anyway (discoloration/age). I pop the end of my bottling wand off, and stick that in to one of the hoses. StarSan the wand in and out for a bit, then it's business time! I stick the wand down in to the carboy, and suck gently (lololol) on the other hose (not mouth, but lungs).
Once I get enough, I lift the wand out of the beer and gently continue the suction until I can clear the wand out of the carboy (as to not let any beer fall back in). I have the capture cylinder marked off (two black lines on the jar) to the max necessary fill level of my hydrometer tube, so there's never an issue with not having enough for a measurement.
This is probably over-complicated, but I just couldn't find another way that I was comfortable with. Since all of the materials were recycled or already available, it was pretty much a net-zero-cost thing.
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Make sure the hydrometer is not rubbing the sides of the test jar/thief in which you're floating it. Degas by pouring the sample many times back and forth between glasses and let it sit, like 20-30m, before measuring. Check that plain water gives 0.000 measurement. That paper insert inside the hydrometer can slip.
Meat Clever and Vammy we are going to take your advice and wait this one out & go down to the shop and see if they have a test jar., otherwise Amazon Prime! Enjoy your Fat Tire and your weekend! Thanks again.
I'm sure your LHBS will have a proper test jar/tube; mine isthe typical plastic one, works like a charm.
Balrog makes an excellent point...make sure your sample is devoid of bubbles, spin the hydrometer in the tube, and that it does not stick to the sides. Spin it 3-4 times, take your readings, at least 2 of them will be the same (usually). If they're all coming up different, even by a few points, do it again...On bottling day for the Fat Tire clone we had a couple good readings at 1.012, then got busy with prepping for bottling...came back to the sample jar later and we had 1.010. That degas step in the sample tube is important...just sayin.
Another idea: you're in the carboy now, right? Use the light on your phone, or a bright flashlight, and hold it on the outside of the carboy near the bottom. Watch for yeast still floating around, watch for small (or not so small) bubbles rising off the bottom. I usually ferment in buckets, and do not go to secondary unless I'm dry hopping or something...so I don't get to see this phenomena...but I do have a cream ale in a carboy right now, I can send you pics of 3 weeks in after a very slow start (for whatever reason...it just didn't take off like I thought it should). The short story here is you can now see where you are, what's going on, etc, and judge your actions accordingly.
A good indication your beer is done when your airlock has had zero activity for several days, AND there are no significant bubbles on top of/center of the beer, AND there are a limited number of floating yeast rafts (usually small anyway) floating on top. Sanitize your new thief, take a sample and see if you've hit FG.
My opinion...others with more experience may have better advice, and, as always, YMMV.
Cheers, mate. You made beer. It will be fine. And keep us posted!
Balrog makes an excellent point...make sure your sample is devoid of bubbles, spin the hydrometer in the tube, and that it does not stick to the sides. Spin it 3-4 times, take your readings, at least 2 of them will be the same (usually). If they're all coming up different, even by a few points, do it again...On bottling day for the Fat Tire clone we had a couple good readings at 1.012, then got busy with prepping for bottling...came back to the sample jar later and we had 1.010. That degas step in the sample tube is important...just sayin.
Another idea: you're in the carboy now, right? Use the light on your phone, or a bright flashlight, and hold it on the outside of the carboy near the bottom. Watch for yeast still floating around, watch for small (or not so small) bubbles rising off the bottom. I usually ferment in buckets, and do not go to secondary unless I'm dry hopping or something...so I don't get to see this phenomena...but I do have a cream ale in a carboy right now, I can send you pics of 3 weeks in after a very slow start (for whatever reason...it just didn't take off like I thought it should). The short story here is you can now see where you are, what's going on, etc, and judge your actions accordingly.
A good indication your beer is done when your airlock has had zero activity for several days, AND there are no significant bubbles on top of/center of the beer, AND there are a limited number of floating yeast rafts (usually small anyway) floating on top. Sanitize your new thief, take a sample and see if you've hit FG.
My opinion...others with more experience may have better advice, and, as always, YMMV.
Cheers, mate. You made beer. It will be fine. And keep us posted!
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this is the only thing I disagree with. Your airlock can bubble for various reasons. Pressure changes on the fermenter. Co2 getting knocked out of solution by bumping or moving. Temperature fluctuations etc etc
Gravity readings are the only way to accurately judge your fermentation. When you think it's done, take a reading. Take another a few days later if they are the same then your done fermenting. If they're different take another a few days later and compare results.
You are absolutely correct; that was poorly described on my part...I should have said a good indication of a finished fermentation is zero bubbles (residual or otherwise) in the airlock for several days, no major bubbles on the top of the beer (since in this instance we're in a carboy and can see it), and few yeast rafts (if any) on top...then take another reading and see if we've hit final gravity.
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