ThirdGen

Recipes 

Just buy a wine thief for $10 and your problems are solved! That competes with my Autosiphon for favorite piece of equipment so far that makes life easier.

Nukesquad

Recipes 

I'm also putting the samples back. I would definitely classify myself as a little OCD/overboard when it comes to sanitization, but it gives me that peace of mind since I don't want to waste any of my product.

Hang Glider

Recipes 

$3.99, Northern Brewer

nebben

Recipes 

Duuuude, you're doing it wrong

When I take hydrometer samples, there is probably in the neighborhood of 2-3oz of beer per test. I drink that. So far, there is a few drops of beer wasted, at best, during each operation since not all drips and drops make it into the glass that I drink.

4 hydrometer tests is a lot for me too. I'll take a gravity reading pre-boil (AG), post-boil, and at kegging/bottling. I've only done multiple tests at the end of fermentation, for beer at least, if I suspect the beer isn't as done as it should be at the end of 3+ weeks of fermentation.

l1ranger

Recipes 

half a gallon!
its been said, but I'll reiterate, thats too much.

2 to 3 oz per reading, at 3 to 4 readings is no more than 12 oz.

__________________
Josh

bottle - some odds and ends
Primary - Belgian Pale
Secondary - smoked ale, christmas ale
on deck - brrrrr-ley wine

SumnerH

Recipes 

Yep. The refractometer is still a good gauge of whether gravity is falling or stable, though.

Use the refractometer for your OG, and for your periodic readings during fermentation. Once you get a stable reading 3 days in a row, then you take your 1 and only hydrometer reading to get the FG.

Also, on the "3 days in a row": don't bother checking on day 2. Measure on day 1 and 3. If they're the same, you're good to go--it's not like the gravity spiked up or down and then returned to the original level!

__________________
On deck: Little Bo Pils, Bretta Off Dead (Brett pale)
Secondary: Oude Bruin, Red Sky at Morning (Sour brown ale)
On tap: Saison Duphunk (sour), Amarillo Slim (IPA), Earl White (ginger/bergamot wit)
Bottled: Number 8 (Belgian Strong Dark Ale), Eternale (Barleywine), Ancho Villa (Ancho/pasilla/chocolate/cinnamon RIS), Oak smoked porter (1/2 maple bourbon oaked, 1/2 apple brandy oaked)

Sacdan

Recipes 

I found this posted in another thread by Kilted Brewer:
http://morebeer.com/learn_vids/vids_refract

nigel31

Recipes 

Someone mentioned the Fermtech Thief. +1 to that. I've been using that now with my last batch and it's GENIUS.

http://www.midwestsupplies.com/fermtech-wine-thief.html

You sanitize it and the hydrometer, then dip the Thief into your fermenter. It fills up naturally (enough for a reading), then you remove it (or hold it there). You drop the hydrometer into it, spinning it as usual to dislodge any air bubbles. When you get the reading, you simply press the bottom tip against the fermenter and it slowly/gently runs the sample back down the side and into the rest of the brew. You can sample a taste if you'd like, or not sample any. It's like they combined their springless bottle filler with their auto-siphon and...voila!! So smart and easy.

david_42

Recipes 

I don't know what you are using to sample. My hydrometer tube takes less than 4 oz. Even if I did 4 samples, that is still only a pint. Typically, I take the first sample after adding the yeast. That sample sits next to the fermenter and gives me continuous updates. When it has been stable for 3-4 days, I draw a new sample. If the new sample is higher, I let it sit.

__________________
Remember one unassailable statistic, as explained by the late, great George Carlin: "Just think of how stupid the average person is, and then realize half of them are even stupider!"

"I would like to die on Mars, just not on impact." Elon Musk

humann_brewing

Recipes 

I test pre fermentation and then before it goes into the keg which is usually at least 3 weeks later. I don't need to babysit the thing while it ferments.

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On tap: Batch 1 Flanders Red, experimental sour 1.072 > 1.000, #70 Simple, gone complex pale 1.063 4/5/13, #71 French IPA, American IPA with spanish cedar and fermented with 3711 1.059>1.008
Fermenting: #72 Flower power saison 1.053>1.004 with lavender and jasmine
Aging: #67 Bareleywine 1.116 11/07/2012, Flanders 2 batches 1.056 and 1.060 12/12/11 and 3/26/12, Smoked Porter 1.063 10/11, pepper RIS 1.088 7/11, Kriek, 1.052 12/11, RYE IPA sour experiment 8/12, Berliner Weisse 1.030 9/20/12