Hygiene when checking the SG

Discuss making up beer kits - the simplest way to brew.
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steve_flack

Post by steve_flack » Fri May 04, 2007 1:49 pm

troublebrewing wrote:Well, I want to keep this brew for my son's first birthday...
Start 'em young with Junior Beer!
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troublebrewing

Post by troublebrewing » Fri May 04, 2007 7:25 pm

Daab, the SG tonight is the same - 1020.

I'm bothered that I did not hydrate the yeast and give the whole thing a whopping great big stir at the outset...

Funny though, I thought I would see what the SG is of some Old Speckled Hen, and it is 1020, for what it's worth.

Should i add some Safale 04 hydrated now, or keg it, add the light spray malt and see the results in a couple of weeks' time?

TB
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Andy
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Post by Andy » Fri May 04, 2007 7:31 pm

Sounds like your hydrometer is out.

Speckled hen at 1020, I doubt it.


Did you spin the hydro to remove CO2 bubbles from it ?
Dan!
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troublebrewing

Post by troublebrewing » Fri May 04, 2007 7:53 pm

No, I'll have another go, back in five...
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troublebrewing

Post by troublebrewing » Fri May 04, 2007 7:55 pm

I forgot that the hydrometer was still in the speckled hen, and I just checked it again and it does indeed read about 1010-14, at the most.

I'll take another sample of the conkerwood and let it settle and read again in 20 minutes.

TB
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troublebrewing

Post by troublebrewing » Fri May 04, 2007 8:00 pm

Deffo reading 1020 at this minute. Back in 20.
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troublebrewing

Post by troublebrewing » Fri May 04, 2007 8:24 pm

Nope, still on 1020.

Add the Safale 04?

:(
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Chris The Fish

Post by Chris The Fish » Fri May 04, 2007 9:31 pm

PieOPah wrote: (although many of us - myself included - find the temptation too much and have normally finished by then!)
you and all of us!!
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troublebrewing

Post by troublebrewing » Fri May 04, 2007 9:35 pm

I'll do it after Harry Enfield...

will take this up a bit later, sticking kits, as I want a differnet experience. :(
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troublebrewing

Post by troublebrewing » Fri May 04, 2007 10:05 pm

Done that... check it again in 24hrs?
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troublebrewing

Post by troublebrewing » Fri May 04, 2007 10:21 pm

Understood.

Nighty night all.

TB
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mysterio

Post by mysterio » Fri May 04, 2007 11:16 pm

Andy wrote:Or dip the sanitised hydrometer directly in the beer and don't bother with the sample jar. Depending on the state of the yeast head then this might be difficult to read the hydro but if you gently swirl the hydro around a small area to clear the yeast head around it then a reading can be obtained.
This is what I used to do... or you could fork out for a refractometer (about a tenner).
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sparky Paul

Post by sparky Paul » Sat May 05, 2007 9:27 am

Andy wrote:Or dip the sanitised hydrometer directly in the beer and don't bother with the sample jar. Depending on the state of the yeast head then this might be difficult to read the hydro but if you gently swirl the hydro around a small area to clear the yeast head around it then a reading can be obtained.
This is what I do too, but I leave it in the fermenter all the time. When the yeast head has died down and the hydrometer is left a bit crusty, I take it out, clean it in some sterilising solution, rinse, and replace it in the brew.
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Stonch

Post by Stonch » Tue May 08, 2007 1:54 pm

Just got my first hydrometer through the post - I was planning on doing what Sparky Paul suggests - just leaving hyrometer floating around in there until it's done.

Any downsides to that? :?:
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PieOPah

Post by PieOPah » Tue May 08, 2007 2:00 pm

Biggest downside is you don't get a trial jar to taste the sample....

You also need to wait until the krausen has died down before you can get any readings - otherwise gunk will be stuck all over the hydrometer. This will likely weigh it down and give an inaccurate reading.
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