Official Broken Hydrometer Count

Just 1.
BUT I do have an inverse broken hydrometer. I bought one to replace it, and I found one that I forgot I bought years ago!
so all in all, im even.

+1 = 1007

So, a couple of weeks ago I was cleaning all my equipment after a brew day and SWMBO, being the great woman that she is, came out to give me a hand. Hydro and sample tube were sitting on the table, hydro was in tube, so she grabs them up and proceeds to bring them over to wash them. My knee jerk reaction was to instantly state "please do not break that." She gets mad "Why do you think I would break it?" Sets it back on the table and goes back in the house.

fast forward 2 weeks, hydro was in ferm chamber where I had put it to cool the sample down. I opened ferm chamber and was taking the blow off tube off the beer that was currently fermenting and replacing the air lock as active fermentation had slowed and I no longer needed blow off. Pulled blow off tube out of carboy, apparently with great force, and the end of it came out of the starsan jug and hit the hydro/sample tube knocking them out of the fridge.

Yeah, i still haven't heard the end of that from SWMBO

I've been brewing since 98 and I've only had to replace 1 hydrometer and that was only because I lost the first one in a move. I bet I just jinxed myself.

+1 = 1008

I went to lift mine out of the sampling tube last night and part of the stem just broke. It must have been barely cracked prior to using it, because I was handling it gently.

Oh well.

angrysparrow said:

I went to lift mine out of the sampling tube last night and part of the stem just broke. It must have been barely cracked prior to using it, because I was handling it gently.

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+1 = 1009

I had literally this exact thing happen to me last week. Good thing I had a spare (that is easier to read, too).

edit:

+1 for # 1,010.

I can't believe I lost another one already. Bottled a cider yesterday. Had the hydrometer in the dish drying rack. My oldest child goes to rinse out a cup and for some reason, defying all logic, contorts his body while turning around in such a way that his elbow raked over the drying rack, thus ending the much-too-short life of my most recent hydrometer (as well as a few other cups and things).

None. Started brewing in 1987. Bought a low SG hydrometer from NB to more accurately find FG. Now I have two.

+2 for 1012
Broke my first one that came with my kit. Replaced it and broke that one within a year. Bought another one, but it was tiny and only went up to 1.060, bought a full size one and the little one is my backup. Haven't broken one since. I think if you have two, you won't break one

1013 - left it in an empty hydrometer jar. Lasted 5 years, so I drank a beer in its honor.

Good thing I'd bought 5 more on a whim, so I was covered.

1014. My first after two years of brewing. Put hot wort in the test tube after I finishing mashing, saw it bob and stop around 1.040. Went back to check ten minutes later, and it was reading .990. Pulled it out to see what was wrong, and it came out in two pieces. Dunno what I did. Might've just been its time.

1015. Lost my first one last weekend, days before taking my last reading to confirm that I was at FG.

1015. The one the starter kit was broken.

1016. Sorry somebody beat me to 1016. Haha!

Add one more to the running count.

1017

1019

Broke 2 this year

1020.

Broke my first one after about a year of brewing on tuesday night. Luckily I already had my FG reading.

1021...Thought I grabbed the tube it came in, turns out I grabbed the middle part of the wine thief and dropped it in...whoops

1022 and 1023

1022: stupid newbie, ten years ago. I put it on a counter, and it rolled off. Hyrdrometers don't bounce.

1023: Three weeks ago - during a normal SG test, the bulb on my hydro split into three. No idea why.

My third hydrometer in ten years is happy and healthy and currently swaddled in bubble wrap!

I don't break hydrometers. Only sloppy brewers do who pay no attention to details and are not careful in the least.

TimelessCynic said:

I don't break hydrometers. Only sloppy brewers do who pay no attention to details and are not careful in the least.

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Famous last words ;p.

I didn't break one, but I had a dream about breaking one last night. Weird.

brewguyver said:

Famous last words ;p. I didn't break one, but I had a dream about breaking one last night. Weird.

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Hehe. I didnt mean what I wrote. Was just trolling.

I had smoking nightmares after i quit ciggies.

I don't doubt i will break a hydrometer. I splash hot wort on it frequently. Temperature differential
Is bound to get to it at some point. Doubt I will drop it though.

1024--I hate these things

TimelessCynic said:

I don't break hydrometers. Only sloppy brewers do who pay no attention to details and are not careful in the least.

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YOU'RE NEXT!


1025. 2 years 5 months and 45 or so batches. Had already taken my reading and knocked it over with the autosiphon hose. So no disaster.

Now I know something to ask for for Xmas.

I've broken 2 in the last year... both were left in the dish rack to dry and got knocked by other dishes, one was my fault, and I forget who was responsible for the first. No biggie in my opinion.

total = 1027

benj said:

I've broken 2 in the last year... both were left in the dish rack to dry and got knocked by other dishes, one was my fault, and I forget who was responsible for the first. No biggie in my opinion. total = 1027

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why would you put your hydrometer in the dishwasher????

WildGingerBrewing said:

why would you put your hydrometer in the dishwasher????

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Dish rack to me means the drying rack i keep next to the sink, not the dishwasher. That is where i put my hydrometer after washing it unless i dry it right away.

I have never seen this thread before! I can add two this year... Then I went and bought a refractometer! No more of that broken glass sound for this guy.

TallDan said:

Dish rack to me means the drying rack i keep next to the sink, not the dishwasher. That is where i put my hydrometer after washing it unless i dry it right away.

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i guess that would make more sense. Hahaha

Pulled a 2fer last night, dropped test tube with hydro in it in case, broke both!

My favorite one is when I put it back in the tube case just to realize there was no bottom and it crashed out the other side.

Broke my first yesterday. No backup either. I guess I should buy 2.

total = 1028

Broke mine this week (in-laws crowding my space is my excuse). Who sets up an ironing board directly in front of the kitchen sink? Burned my thermometer handle the same day.

#1029

doornumber3 said:

My favorite one is when I put it back in the tube case just to realize there was no bottom and it crashed out the other side.

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I did the exactly same.

I did that once. Someone just starting out asked me what type of hydrometer they should by I told them buy the cheapest you can find and buy three.

1030?

Showing a buddy how to brew. Told him to draw a sample to take a fg. He doesn't like being "told" so he pulled the cover off the fv and dropped it in to spite me. It never came back up. The bottom broke off in the fv. Didn't know if it was lead free so he dumped a whole batch and owed me a hydrometer. Ain't karma a *****. Lol

1031

Broke it a month ago but forgot to add. Was carrying things outside when it just slipped out of the theif. This was the same night there was tornadoes in the area and I refused to stop brewing. Hence, the Tornado Warning Stout in my sig.

1032! I broke my fourth Monday night. It was such a bummer because I was excited about testing efficiency on my new system. At this point I starting to think it might be cheaper and easier in the long run to just buy a refractometer.

+1 1033

Was walking in from the shed with an armload of my brewing stuff, including my hydrometer in its packing tube. Turned around, lid popped off and hydrometer flew out and smashed against the wall. No brew that night, waited until next day after I got a new one.

1034.

Had just cleaned all my equipment after a brew day and had it laying out on a towel in the spare room I keep all my stuff. My wife stepped on it enroute to the printer.

BamaPhil said:

1034.

Had just cleaned all my equipment after a brew day and had it laying out on a towel in the spare room I keep all my stuff. My wife stepped on it enroute to the printer.

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And I'm sure this helped in measuring the efficiency of how far her foot went in your ass!