Wherry ready to go in barrel?

[daisymay]

Hi, I am making my first beer. I started it on Wednesday and checked it with my hydrometer today (Sunday)and the reading is 1000, should I put it in the barrel now?
I have read other posts about Wherry and it seems to be a little early.
Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[Clint]

Hmmm ...is your hydrometer reading ok? That seems a little low for a wherry...what yeast did you use?

 

[daisymay]

Hi Clint, I just floated it in the beer, should I put it in a proper reading jar to take the reading, I used the 2 sachets in the kit,

 

[daisymay]

I just took a reading in the jar and it was the same, but it is still foaming on the top, not a lot though.

 

[daisymay]

Now should I panic. I just read someone put a bung and airlock in to brew the wherry. I just put a cloth over the top and the lid resting on top. Will that have ruined it? My uncle used to brew and that's how he used to do it.
I have promised my husband the best beer he has ever tasted I don't want to make him ill !!

 

[Sandimas]

Something wrong there, Wherry usually only gets down to 1010 or 1012, and not after 4 days. Check your hydrometer in a jar of water, it should read 1000, then try it again in beer - it should be higher.

 

[daisymay]

I have tried it again. In the water it was 2 notches above the 1000, 980? In the beer it still says 1000.
The other thingy I have is a Sachrometer which says the beer is 10, it goes from 0 at the top going down in 5's, any clue what that is, or is that just for wine.
Also I had a heat belt on it

 

[Sandimas]

It sounds like the scale has slipped inside your hydrometer, water will always be 1000.

But at least you can calibrate it based on the water measurement - if the beer is 20 above the water measurement then it'll be 1020, too early to keg or bottle. You can get away with kegging a bit earlier than bottling as kegs need plenty of CO2 but I'd leave it for another week. And get another hydrometer.

 

[terrym]

Try this
https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/...ic-gravity-using-a-homebrew-hydrometer.60895/
If your beer has only been in the FV for four days I would leave it for at least another week whether you think its finished or not. If you package it now it will be yeast laden. The sure sign that it has really finished is when it starts to clear, or better clear or nearly clear.

 

[daisymay]

Thanks all for the advice

 

[WierdFish]

Assuming the hydrometer is reading wrong, regardless of what the reading is, it needs to be constant for 2 readings, 24 hours apart, to know that fermentation has stopped. Only when fermentation has ended should you barrel it.

Don't worry about using an airlock, many never do and go with a loose fitting lid. The lack of regular bubbling in an airlock is not sufficient to confirm that the yeast has finished doing its stuff.