Testing Sg Of Bottled Brew

[richardo]

Is it possible to test the SG of a bottled (carbonated) brew, if it is at room temp? If so, does the beer need to be flat to get a correct reading?

 

[buttersd70]

Is it possible to test the SG of a bottled (carbonated) brew, if it is at room temp? If so, does the beer need to be flat to get a correct reading?

Yes, it is. It would need to be bought up to the temp that your hydro is calibrated for (usually either 15C of 20C, should be printed on the hydrometer somewhere), and degassed. The degassing is really only because it's hard to take an accurate reading otherwise......

Some guys, when trying to clone commercial beers will attempt to reverse engineer it, by taking a hydrometer or refractometer reading, then using that, and the abv on the label, to work out the OG....

 

[Spartan 117]

Yes, it is. It would need to be bought up to the temp that your hydro is calibrated for (usually either 15C of 20C, should be printed on the hydrometer somewhere), and degassed.

+1 butters, any gas in the beer will cause bubbles to form on the hydrometer and make it float a bit higher than it normaly would, if you find the beer is as flat as you can get it but you get bubbles on the hydrometer you may need to heat it up a little then let it cool, this will force the CO2 out. Or spin the hydrometer to remove any bubbles if there are only a few.

Aaron

 

[richardo]

+1 butters, any gas in the beer will cause bubbles to form on the hydrometer and make it float a bit higher than it normaly would, if you find the beer is as flat as you can get it but you get bubbles on the hydrometer you may need to heat it up a little then let it cool, this will force the CO2 out. Or spin the hydrometer to remove any bubbles if there are only a few.

Aaron

Thanks for that. I'm lettin sit a few hours in the tube then I'll take the reading

 

[buttersd70]

I normally put samples (any samples) in a shallow cup, on the bench, and stir the bejeebus outof it with a teaspoon to knowck co2 out. Leave it for a bit, and then sample.