Hi guys,
I'm brewing half a batch of Muntons Gold Continental Pilsner and have a question about the hydrometer reading.
Firstly, I'm only brewing 20 pints instead of the 40 as I wanted to to a test run. Also, the kit comes in two cans so I can easily do it that way....that's what my home brew supplier told me anyway!
I'm four days into the fermenting cycle (kicked it off on Wednesday 6th at 7pm) and have just taken a reading with the hydrometer and it's at about 1014. I think I'm reading they hydrometer right, the first picture is of the wine scale (I think!) and the second from the beer scale (see the following pictures)...
...and the instructions say that fermentation will be complete when "...bubbles cease to rise (usually after 7-8 days) , or if you use a hydrometer, when the gravity remains constant at a figure below 1014".
The confusing thing is that my hydrometer has an orange section marked 'beer' between 1030 and 1040 (you can see the orange through the beer in the pictures), so I would have assumed that I need to wait until the hydrometer reaches that kind of range before transferring to the bottles.
So, the long and short of it - I'm confused! :wha:
Do I bottle now, even though it's only been four days, given that the hydrometer is reading what the instructions say or wait until it's at the gravity my hydrometer suggests is right for bottling? :hmm:
Thanks!
Chris
I'm brewing half a batch of Muntons Gold Continental Pilsner and have a question about the hydrometer reading.
Firstly, I'm only brewing 20 pints instead of the 40 as I wanted to to a test run. Also, the kit comes in two cans so I can easily do it that way....that's what my home brew supplier told me anyway!
I'm four days into the fermenting cycle (kicked it off on Wednesday 6th at 7pm) and have just taken a reading with the hydrometer and it's at about 1014. I think I'm reading they hydrometer right, the first picture is of the wine scale (I think!) and the second from the beer scale (see the following pictures)...
...and the instructions say that fermentation will be complete when "...bubbles cease to rise (usually after 7-8 days) , or if you use a hydrometer, when the gravity remains constant at a figure below 1014".
The confusing thing is that my hydrometer has an orange section marked 'beer' between 1030 and 1040 (you can see the orange through the beer in the pictures), so I would have assumed that I need to wait until the hydrometer reaches that kind of range before transferring to the bottles.
So, the long and short of it - I'm confused! :wha:
Do I bottle now, even though it's only been four days, given that the hydrometer is reading what the instructions say or wait until it's at the gravity my hydrometer suggests is right for bottling? :hmm:
Thanks!
Chris
