resource wanted for gravity readings on each day

[drbell]

Does anyone know of a resource where I can look a graphs or tables showing gravity against the number of days since setting the beer fermenting. I will be making this kind of information (based on gravity and on number of bubbles per second through the airlock) available on my blog as I gather it, but I'd like to get a feel for the speed these change for different setups/beers/people.

Thanks

[MightyMouth]

These things are so variable I doubt what you are looking for even exists. You could brew 2 kits of the same beer at the same time and they might ferment totally differently.

[bandit]

I would say you are asking the impossible. There are TOO many variables to allow this to be represented by any tabular / linear / graph format. You have to consider all the ingredients from liquor through to yeast and temp and even cleanliness.

Every single brew has a possibility of being different thats why it is consider a craft hobby.

I must learn to type faster

[drbell]

Thanks for the replies.
I wasn't expecting to be able to match my experiences precisely to other peoples. I would find it interesting to see how peoples gravities have lowered over time. I expected that no two graphs/tables to be the same (even for the same beer in the same setting at the same time), but seeing some of the different gravity patterns would be helpful to me.

[MightyMouth]

I doubt most people take that many readings, generally the less you mess with it the better. I wait until there is no apparent activity to take the first reading (excluding OG of course) and the next might be the last as it might be finished. Besides, what is there to gain by knowing how much it fermented and how fast?

[drbell]

If all is going well, or you are experienced at this, I guess there is not much to be gained at all. However, as a first time brewer, and without an airlock on the bucket (I already have one ready to fit for the next brew) having some idea of what is going on in the bucket, and if it might fall vaguely into the realms of 'normal' would be very helpful.
Such information would help me answer for myself all the nagging questions I have such as:
How long might it take to ferment from 1018 down to 1014 or less?
And in cool conditions?
Is it possible it is still fermenting if it barely looks like the gravity has decreased after 4 days?
What kind of decreases in gravity have been seen after unsticking a fermentation?
... and so on...

[MightyMouth]

Such information would help me answer for myself all the nagging questions I have such as:
How long might it take to ferment from 1018 down to 1014 or less?

It might take forever. If you successfully unstick it then a day or 2

And in cool conditions?

Even longer. If its too cool then warm it up.

Is it possible it is still fermenting if it barely looks like the gravity has decreased after 4 days?

Yes. If it has decreased then it is still fermenting

What kind of decreases in gravity have been seen after unsticking a fermentation?

20 points or more, Mine went from 1019 to 998 but required DBE to get there otherwise it probably wouldn't have budged.

That is what this forum is for, ask questions get answers.

The thing is you don't know that your kit is stuck as you haven't had a proper hydrometer reading. You don't know what the temperature of your beer is and you haven't taken an accurate hydrometer reading in a suitable container. If your beer is at 16c that would drop your gravity one point and if your reading is out due to an unsuitable container or a hydrometer that is not accurate then your beer might already be at 1.014 so it seems to me to be a waste of time looking for answers to problems that might not actually exist.

To see how accurate your hydrometer is, place it in some 20°c water and if it reads 1.000 then is fairly accurate (assuming its calibrated at 20°c and not 15°c). You will need an accurate Thermometer first to test the water temperature. Its worth pointing out that where the liquid meets the hydrometer is not the gravity as the liquid will try to climb the side of the Hydrometer, you need to look at where the plain of the level water is passing through the hydrometer which will probably be about a point higher than where the water touches the hydrometer.

[drbell]

Thanks for all the replies. I was already planning to do another reading on Thursday evening (or tonight if I get time) That will be 5 or 6 days since the last 2 readings of 1018. I will also measure the beer temperature, and report back.
Thanks for all your help.

[Jim]

While the actual progress of fermentation will be different each time, the general shape of the curve is similar: -

[Andy]

I take daily gravity readings for my beers and log the reading in my brewlog. Never done anything with the values though