Opening Ferm Bucket During Ferm ?!

[turbomad2b]

Hi all , im a newb to home brewing,

Just started my first (kit) batch of lager 3 days ago , i fitted a bubbler airlock to my ferm. bucket and it has been bubbling every 10 secs or so since the day after pitching.

My Question : Can i open my fermentation bucket (today) during fermentation without contaminating / spoiling my brew , i just want to have a look to see what is happening inside the bucket and to maybe take a sample so i can take a hydro reading.
I understand that it is far too early for fermentation to be complete, but with me being a beginner i just want to understand what is happening to the brew during ferm, and to see how much the fg has dropped in 3 days.

Other question (2 birds 1 stone -
When i come to pressure barrel my brew am i right in thinking to use brewing sugar over household white sugar ??

[floydmeddler]

Open it up by all means and have a look although you will more than likely have missed all the best stuff by now!

Don't take a hydro reading until 5 days in then do one every day until you get a steady reading over 2 days. After this you can rack into secondary.

An easier way to take a reading is just to sanitise the hydrometer and gently lower it into the beer. That way you don't waste anything!

MAKE SURE YOU RINSE ALL THE SANITISER OFF THE HYDRO BEFORE DIPPING THOUGH!

[turbomad2b]

Excellent thanks for the info !!

[thedeckking]

Welcome to the wonderful world of home brew. I'm still in my first year and can remeber constantly opening the lid of my first brew to have a look and it came out fine. Let's just say it didn't get much time to mature!!!.

Doesn't really matter what sugar you use for priming, it's such a small amount it won't make much difference to the taste. If you like your lager fizzy then you can add more if require. My record is 250g in a batch of cerveza which came out really nice and fizzy.

You may also want to think about using bottles rather than a keg. For a lager you just won't get much fizz in a keg (unless you go down the cornie route).