Homebrewers - Whats in the fermenter?

[kaisersozei]

Originally Posted by earnold25

gotcha. i did add some, but i wasn't sure how much liquid i was dealing with and didn't want to bring to total over 5 gallons.

I put gallon markings on the sides of my fermenter, so I can pretty much estimate how much wort I'm dealing with. I also do full boils, starting with about 6-7 gallons of wort. By the time I'm done, something under 6 gallons is usually in the primary and I'll eventually end up racking 5 into the bottling bucket.

As for gravity readings, I used to take a lot of them. But then I realized it was more of a pain in the ass than it was worth, so I just wait and eyeball fermentation activity at the airlock. I take three readings: O.G. before pitching, when I rack to the secondary, and F.G. after adding priming sugar to the bottling bucket. I've never had a stuck fermentation, so I suppose I'm lucky in that regard--it might make me change my technique.

[earnold25]

Originally Posted by kaisersozei

I put gallon markings on the sides of my fermenter, so I can pretty much estimate how much wort I'm dealing with. .

that's a great idea. i may have to steal it what'd you use to measure a gallon? I guess I could use the 1000mL flask i have but that'd take a while to fill.

[kaisersozei]

Originally Posted by earnold25

that's a great idea. i may have to steal it what'd you use to measure a gallon? I guess I could use the 1000mL flask i have but that'd take a while to fill.

A plastic gallon-sized water bottle, or a milk jug would work--I sometimes use spring water or distilled water in my brews and had one laying around. I just put some painters tape right below each gallon line as I filled, and numbered it on the tape. I had to shine a flashlight through the backside of the plastic fermenter, to make sure of the level.

Your homebrew shop might carry clear vinyl stickers that work well on glass carboys. I think they're numbered 1 - 6, with plain line sticker for half-gallon increments.

[rack04]

Originally Posted by earnold25

that's a great idea. i may have to steal it what'd you use to measure a gallon? I guess I could use the 1000mL flask i have but that'd take a while to fill.

I used weight to calibrate the volume in my fermenters. I wanted 1/4 gallon marks so I built an excel spreadsheet that calculates the weight of 1/4, 1/2, and 1 gallon of water based on the temperature of the water.

For example:

1/4 gallon of 60 degree F water will weigh 2 pounds 1.4 ounces
1/2 gallon of 60 degree F water will weigh 4 pounds 2.7 ounces
1 gallon of 60 degree F water will weigh 8 pounds 5.4 ounces

[awsmith4]

Guess I got lucky and the buckets that came with my kit had markings on the side. To fix our boil kettle measuring issue Matt and I just marked our mash paddle by scarring it with a knife.


Coffee question: I have a porter in primary and I'm going to add bourbon chips at secondary. If I wanted to add coffee should I add this at secondary as well? I have read that some folks actually brew the coffee and add it at bottling but I feel for some reason it would be better if fresh ground beans were added.