Hydro readings........

So I see lots of folks taking hydro readings after a week and getting to taste the brew. I was going to take one of my first batch on Saturday but got wrapped up and on sunday I was brewing then game time so didn't cross my mind.

So I don't have a thief. How can I go about taking my reading. Can I just sanatize the hydrometer and check in in the bucket or ? (I must admit that option doesn't allow for taste.

hmmmmmmmmmm

So I guess I answered my early question: I'm still a newbie.:rockin:

You don't want to just stick your hydrometer in your bucket. You want to pull a sample. That way you can avoid any krausen floating that will gunk it up and make it float poorly.

Get yourself a thief or a turkey baster or something you can sanitize and pull wort out with.

If you are using a glass carboy, you can use a sanitized turkey baster to draw out a sample.

Insert a big long straw and suck some out.

I highly recommend adding a wine thief to your equipment, but in the meantime the turkey baster works just fine with either carboys or buckets. If it's not long enough to reach, you can add some tubing to the end of it. All else fails, you can siphon a little out. Definitely don't want to try dropping your hydrometer down in there though.

I still don't have a wine thief, even after years of winemaking. But a turkey baster from the Dollar Store works great.

If you don't have a turkey baster, you can use a racking cane. You can use a long piece of tubing or the racking cane as a "straw". Put the tubing gently down into the beer, then cover the top with your finger. Lift it out and then hold it over the tube. Then release your finger, just like it was a straw in a coke like we used to do when we were kids. If your tubing is long enough, you can just do it once.

I just bought a new turkey baster, for the brewery. No one is allowed to use it for basting turkeys! It works well, and you get your samples whenever you want.

Although it's not the best method, I have sanitzied the living heck out of a hydrometer and just used it in my bucket fermenter a number of times without incident. If there's still a lot of floating stuff like carne mentions, however, the wine theif/turkey baster is a better option.

I use a turkey baster, but if I'm using a bucket I just grab a measuring cup, clean and sanitize it and pull some out. That way I've got plenty to taste

Mike

Brewagenjay, I'm a newb and there are probably better better methods but FWIW: I found 1/4" copper tubing will slip through the standard air lock grommet. I attached a short piece of copper tubing to some flexible vinyl hose.

When it's time to sample, stick the copper end in a small pot of boiling water for a few minutes to sterilize. Pull the airlock, slip in the copper pipe through the grommet opening and siphon out just enough for my testing tube. Because it's not going back in the fermenter I use my mouth to start the siphon. I don't ever open the bucket and I figure I'm not disturbing the C02 layer. . . just another option!

Thanks. I guess I got to figure out a way. So how much is needed to get a good hydro readying. My hydrometer is long. I'm assumign you need a enough to put into something tall so the hydro can float.

with my hydrometer, I need about 3 or 4 ounces (I'm guessing here, just eyeballing it).

Actually, I just got a plastic hydrometer test jar for like 3 bucks at the LHBS, but I used to just use the little plastic tube the hydrometer comes in, and it takes a little bit more beer to get a reading with the jar (5 ounces or so?). I used to just use the little tube the hydrometer came in, and that worked alright, but the hydrometer kinda sticks to the side of the tube. if you keep fiddling around with it you can get it to float pretty much freely. It works in a pinch anyway.

If your hydrometer came in a plastic tube (about 1" diameter) just use that. Mine takes 4 oz. of brew to float the hydro. If you didn't get a plastic tube you can buy them at any LBS or on-line:
http://www.rebelbrewer.com/shoppingcart/products/Hydrometer-Test-Jar-%2d-10".html


Oops, McEric beat me to it!

Cool. I got the plastic tube but it has two plastic pop on on both sides and I have been using it with the phone inserts to protect the hydrometer. I think I need one of those tubes and I'm sure my LHBS will have it. Thanks now I know what I need. Turkey Baster or theif and test tube. Golden.

get the hydrometer jar, it looks all cool and scientific