Forgot to use hydrometer

Advertise with us
Shop deals on ebay
shop deals on amazon
The Homebrew Forum

Help Support The Homebrew Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
thehorse

thehorse

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 29, 2015
Messages
166
Reaction score
8
Location
NULL
Just got a St Peter's kit on, and it said nothing on the box about taking a gravity reading before pitching the yeast.

I'll be using my hydrometer to see if the fermenting has stopped (getting a consistent gravity for three days), but am I missing anything from not taking this initial reading?

Presumably it just means I won't know the strength of my beer. Or, is it OK to open it up and take a reading two days in?
 
Without taking a reading you wont be able to work out your ABV, however since its a kit there should be a reading they say it shoudl be so you can pretty much work off that..

Which kit is it?? I think the ruby red for example will be something like 1040 or 1042
 
I wouldn't have though there was much point in taking a reading several days into fermentation. If you've done it as per the instructions, the OG may be on the can or paperwork. The final ABV is usually included on same.
 
2 days in the gravity has probably (hopefully) dropped a bit so I wouldn't bother.

I would still take readings towards the end as you will still be able to tell if it's finished or not.
 
It's a St Peter's cream stout kit. Can't believe that the instructions, and those supplied with the brewing starter kit, never mentioned taking an initial reading
 
thehorse said:
It's a St Peter's cream stout kit. Can't believe that the instructions, and those supplied with the brewing starter kit, never mentioned taking an initial reading
Click to expand...

Problem is with these instructions, where do they stop? Do they tell you to treat your water, do they tell you how to sterilise, how to prime bottles, how to cap them etc. etc.

I guess they have to assume some prior understanding of the process as a whole, or that people just want to brew their own and may not be bothered about the finer details, such as SG, FG, strength and so on.
 
Just chalk it up to experience, kit instructions are never that great really. You'll get better advice reading around on here and after a few brews you'll probably ignore them completely.
 
Kit instructions are bad, but ST peters instructions are just plain appalling just 3 or 4 bullet points on the side of the box
 
It actually not that hard to work out the OG using some brewing software. If you could tell me how many litres you made the kit up to. I'll be able to work it out. If you made it up to 36pints/20L as it says on the box brewmate tells me it gives an OG of 1.045 based on 3kg of Dark LME
 
That kit is supposed to be about 5% with an fg of 1014, so you'd need a OG of 1052 ish to get that strength, also assuming you brewed it to the specified volume. Unless you take the gravity now there's not much point as it will change rapidly in the first 48 hours, that's when a lot of the fermentation is hapoening
 
I'll base it on the manufacturer's assumptions of the OG. Don't really care about the strength so long as it tastes nice. I'll be able to tell after a could of bottles whether it's hit the 5% mark, though I'd be happy with 4.5. I almost want to get going with my next one already. I fancy adding some smoked malts and dry hopping, too
 
By the way, should I be concerned that my airlock isn't bubbling? Fermentation is obviously going on (the beer has got two inches of foam above it) but the only time the airlock bubbles is when I touch gently on the lid
 
thehorse said:
By the way, should I be concerned that my airlock isn't bubbling? Fermentation is obviously going on (the beer has got two inches of foam above it) but the only time the airlock bubbles is when I touch gently on the lid
Click to expand...

No, there is no need to worry, as most fermenters are not airtight around the lid. Also, I would agree totally with the comments on kit instructions.

Taking a SG reading on a kit brew is an exercise in finding out how good you are are at uniformly mixing the kit contents into the water and using a hydrometer. It tells you nothing else. Actually, I suspect it detracts from what you know about the wort you have made as it introduces an element of doubt.

Everything is going fine with this brew and if you are patient and leave it for 2 weeks before you bottle it, you will be pleased with the results.
 

Similar threads

Sea brewer
Rescuing low OG with sugar, do I need to add further sugar for conditioning?
Replies
1
Views
166
Agentgonzo
Agentgonzo
B
Tilt
Replies
3
Views
376
peebee
peebee
TrubWolf
Stalled Saison - Advice please…
2
Replies
35
Views
2K
Wynne
Wynne
Danny-CIPA
ISpindle
Replies
14
Views
788
RoomWithABrew
RoomWithABrew
T
Muntons West Coast IPA - progress and questions
Replies
9
Views
1K
Johnrogers
J

Latest posts

Back
Top