Brewing without a hygrometer

wet-paint

Hey folks,
So my next brew is a Belgian Tripel can of extract, but during the process of moving house, my hygrometer got lost. I like to leave things longer in the bucket as a rule, but seeing as I've no way to be sure that it's done fermenting, I'm planning on leaving it for a month. Do you see any problems arising from that, given that the brew is going to be a higher alcohol content - it's in my mind that such a thing may take longer to ferment in the bucket anyway, so should I allow for more time?


Any info you can provide'd be welcome.
Cheers,
WP

mayto

No problem leaving it for a month but I would bottle it at that stage. You really should get a hydrometer to confirm fermentation is done before bottling though.

invaderzimirl

the health store in the square do them. prob some of the other heath food stores do them i was in there today looking at what beer supplies they have and its not much, but they do have them. about 5 euro

wet-paint

City Square?

invaderzimirl

the square tallaght

http://thesquare.ie/

wet-paint

Right, wrong county unfortunately. And province.

Carawaystick

I'd say it'll be fine, a lot of simple sugars should have no problem for the yeasts

My first brews I always just waited 2-3 weeks and bottled.
You could always bottle one pet bottle with no carbonation sugar/drops as a control, it shouldn't get hard if fermentation is complete at bottling

If it does, you may need to open the bottles to let the excess gas out

invaderzimirl

wet-paint wrote: »

Right, wrong county unfortunately. And province.

but you didnt say where you were based :-)

you should also get an idea from your bubbler when it stops bubbling leave it a week min and you should be good.

wet-paint

I like that idea, twill do in a pinch until I replace my own. Cheers for that.

Carawaystick wrote: »

I'd say it'll be fine, a lot of simple sugars should have no problem for the yeasts

My first brews I always just waited 2-3 weeks and bottled.
You could always bottle one pet bottle with no carbonation sugar/drops as a control, it shouldn't get hard if fermentation is complete at bottling

If it does, you may need to open the bottles to let the excess gas out

Saruman

Brewing and leaving it alone should see it ferment all the way. One thing you can do is to brew the beer and get a hydrometer at a later stage and measure the finish.
If you want to get the starting gravity, brew the beer and put a sample in a sealed/sanitised bottle and take a reading when you do get you hydrometer.

A hydrometer is not necessary to brew beer, only to be sure you are hitting your numbers and measure alcohol content.

wet-paint

Perfect, cheers.