homebrew question

[BigFoot]

brewed up a saison tuesday night, airlok bubbled like crazy wed-thurs. i moved the fermenter to basement last night, hasnt bubbled since then. should i just take readings for a couple days to see if theres still activity? if so, what is the best way to safely take a hydrometer reading?

 

[JRL]

What yeast did you use? What was the temp before and after you moved it? Remember no airlock activity does not mean it is not fermenting.
I take my gravity reading with a measuring cup. Open lid to bucket, spray measuring cup with sanitizer and withdrawal a sample. The only true way to know if it is finished is to take gravity reading 3 days apart and compare.
My beers go minimum 3 weeks before going into the keg or bottles.

 

[BeerAdvocate]

I would wait at least another week. Then start taking readings and see what they are for a few days.

 

[BigFoot]

Probabaly 73 before I moved it to a 76-77 degree area, then back to the 73 degree area. Used a wyeast 3711.

 

[JRL]

I used that yeast in the Saison I made last year. It dropped my gravity really low. 77 degrees should be good for that strain.

Take your gravity reading and see what they are at. What was the starting gravity?

 

[smokinghole]

My experience with that yeast is that it's likely done for you. It MAY attenuate a little further but if it was an average gravity saison that yeast is like a hired mercenary armed to the heavens.

 

[BigFoot]

starting gravity was 1.041

 

[BigFoot]

should i repitch or just leave it in the primary then bottle in 2 weeks?

 

[smokinghole]

Leave it for a two to three weeks and no need to repitch. The yeast does not sediment out very easy so you'll have PLENTY of voracious yeast to carbonate in the bottles.

 

[BigFoot]

cool, thanks. ill keep you all posted. first batch ive made in a long time. actually think i did this one perfect, we ll see.

 

[NCost]

I stopped taking Gravity readings years ago. I let most beers I make sit for 2 weeks minimum and adjust based on the ingredients and amount of fermentables. Never had a problem w/ a min of 2 weeks.

 

[AussieMitch]

My experience with that yeast is that it's likely done for you. It MAY attenuate a little further but if it was an average gravity saison that yeast is like a hired mercenary armed to the heavens.

+1
I reckon that's what's happened here too. Saisons generally seem to have a few volumes of carbonation about them as well, so if you're using a little more priming sugar, its really important primary fermentation is finished. Last thing you want it bottle bombs.
An acronym for this may be RDWHAHB.
Let us know how the beer turns out