Using a hydrometer with a carboy.

I'm a first time brewer and was wondering how you take a hydrometer reading when fermenting in a carboy.

You can use a beer thief, or even a turkey baster to pull out a sample. Just make sure it is sanitized.

Take a sample from the carboy and put it in the jar the hydrometer came in.

Make sure you sanitize all equipment that touches the wort/beer in the carboy. I use a clean and santized turkey baster.

Oh, and don't return the sample back to the carboy.

This is what I use, and it works with both buckets and carboys. I replaced the plastic one a year ago with an extra long stainless baster from a kitchen ware store and it is awesome. But the plastic one from any grocery store works fine.



And



Here's what I do....

1) With a spray bottle filled with starsan I spray the lid of my bucket, or the mouth of the carboy, including the bung. Then I spray my turkey baster inside and out with sanitize (or dunking it in a container of sanitizer).

2) Open fermenter.

3) Draw Sample

4) fill sample jar (usualy 2-3 turky baster draws

5)Spray bung or lid with sanitizer again

6) Close lid or bung

6) add hydrometer and take reading

It is less than 30 seconds from the time the lid is removed until it is closed again. More like 15 if you ask me.

Probably less if you have help. And unless a bird flies in your place and lets go with some poop, you should be okay.

Revvy, you are a wealth of information dude. Thanks.

Here's how I do it using a Fermtech Wine Thief and a sample jar. I like the sample jar because I can put it down without it falling over.



-Joe

but i can't reach my 5gal batch in a 6.5g carboy. i would like to get a beer theif but what to do until then??

Tip the carboy until you can reach with your turkey baster? Won't hurt anything as long as you're not sloshing it around like a crazy person.

-Joe