How do you draw your hydrometer samples?

I use a 5 gallon bucket for primary. How do you draw your hydrometer samples? Do you just scoop some out with a sterilized cup? Turkey baster?

Seems like there should be a better instrument to draw a sample....

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.

I have a stainless steel wine thief. Works pretty good.

Some folks like a wine thief, but I found that it dribbled just a much if not more than a turkey baster.

You can get a wine thief but having both, the baster probably works better.

***I'm way too slow

lschiavo said:

You can get a wine thief but having both, the baster probably works better.

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+1, I have both and the turkey baster works much better..

I had an issue with my plastic turkey baster so I trashed it in favor of the wine thief.

Caused some off flavors in 2 batches I think.

I use a cheap plastic thief that come apart in three pieces.

Malticulous said:

I use a cheap plastic thief that come apart in three pieces.

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This basically following Revvy's technique. My thief leaks back like mad though unless I give it a couple good twists when putting it together.

Oh and be sure to drink the leftovers. Helps learn how things taste along the way and can give you an idea how your beer is coming along.

Quaffman said:

Caused some off flavors in 2 batches I think.

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Why the heck would you think that?

When I took the samples they tasted great, but bottled about 1 weeek later in both batches and they seemed "off". I had a bottle yesterday and it seems like it may have gotten slightly infected. This was the first time I tried the turkey baster method and never had a problem before. I also see the ring in the bottle necks which seems to indicate a problem.

Ill be brewing another batch in a couple of weeks and see if the problem continues. I'd like to prevent any further bad batches so I'm trying to hone in on the issue. That seemed like the first place to start. I'm rhinking the rubber bulb may have been an issue, even though i boiled it before sanitizing it.

TomSD said:

This basically following Revvy's technique. My thief leaks back like mad though unless I give it a couple good twists when putting it together.

Oh and be sure to drink the leftovers. Helps learn how things taste along the way and can give you an idea how your beer is coming along.

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If you turn it upside down as soon as you pull it out it won't leak much. I have my sample tube right by anyway. It not been a problem for me.

Most of the time I sample as it's racking. I still don't spill much.

I thoroughly sanitize my wine thief and hydrometer. Take the reading right in the wine thief then "I know I'm risking contamination" release the sample back into the fermenter.

I used to use a turkey baster. Then SWMBO took it to use on a turkey . I'm probably going to replace it with a wine thief.

I used my wine theif once and the cap on the end of my siphon came off inside it. I guess they are ruined wtf! N00b

Quaffman said:

When I took the samples they tasted great, but bottled about 1 weeek later in both batches and they seemed "off". I had a bottle yesterday and it seems like it may have gotten slightly infected. This was the first time I tried the turkey baster method and never had a problem before. I also see the ring in the bottle necks which seems to indicate a problem.

Ill be brewing another batch in a couple of weeks and see if the problem continues. I'd like to prevent any further bad batches so I'm trying to hone in on the issue. That seemed like the first place to start. I'm rhinking the rubber bulb may have been an issue, even though i boiled it before sanitizing it.

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The problem is with your sanitation, not with the turkey baster. Just like a crappy golfer blaming/upgrading his clubs.

Well since I haven't had a problem with any previous batches until I used this method that's about all I can attribute it to.

Thanks for the encouragement. Its always nice to see other brewers trying to help others out!

Sorry didn't mean to sound like an a-hole. I used to use the thief, but ended up having to dip it a few times to get enough for a sample, so now i just sanitize a dry measure cup (8 ounce volume) that's all I need. Not the most ideal since you have to open the whole lid (not really possible to do with a carboy) but its been working fine.

A really long turkey baster I got from my lhbs.

I'd love some sort of a sampler that has a little latch or something that closes so I can just do one dip with no drips. Bonus points if I can just drop the hydrometer in the top of it so I don't even need two containers.

beertastic said:

I'd love some sort of a sampler that has a little latch or something that closes so I can just do one dip with no drips. Bonus points if I can just drop the hydrometer in the top of it so I don't even need two containers.

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That is essentially what a wine thief does. The only problem I've had with it is collecting a large enough sample in a single dip to take a proper gravity reading.

I rarely take gravity readings from the carboy. With an adequate starter and healthy fermentation, I just don't see the benefit of risking contamination and wasting beer. I take a sample for FG when I rack to bottling bucket. A while back I had weak ferment with some english ale yeast, which led me to break out the old wine thief.
On big beers, I add adjunct sugars directly to the carboy once maltose fermentation is finishing so I don't worry about attenuation and thus don't bother with gravity readings in the carboy.

I do what Revvy does.

thief

50 ml pipette and a squeeze bulb.

Thanks for all the responses....

Revvy said:

Some folks like a wine thief, but I found that it dribbled just a much if not more than a turkey baster.

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I do t recommend the thief pictured here. I have gone through 2 auto-siphon caps getting stuck inside when I drew samples. Trashed it, bought a turkey Baster.

smellgoats,

Happened to me as well. Brain fart. I cut the end off with a hacksaw... gently, and jimmied the cap out... Good to go!

This is going to sound really bad, but I completely ignore my final gravity until it comes time to bottle.

I leave my beer on the yeast for a minimum of 4 weeks, except for when I'm dry hopping, in which case I pull it off the yeast after 3 weeks. I figure that, if the terminal gravity isn't what it was supposed to be after a month, there isn't anything I can do to fix it.

Some caveats here. I don't underpitch, I control my fermentation temps, and I give the yeast plenty of time to do their business. I have never had problems with bottle bombs or a stuck fermentation. Also, I'm really thoughtful about the yeast strain that I use and I pitch the appropriate amount of yeast. I'm convinced that most homebrewers chronically underpitch, particularly new brewers.

Turkey baster wetted with star-san and tube my hydrometer came in (Skeeter Pee pictured ). Takes less than half a cup. I do essentially the same as gmcastil, 4 weeks on yeast and take my FG before adding priming sugar.

thiefs work great in carboys and deep buckets.

5 gallons in a bucket, I'd just float a hydrometer in it directly.
It's what I do with open must buckets.

amandabab said:

thiefs work great in carboys and deep buckets.

5 gallons in a bucket, I'd just float a hydrometer in it directly.
It's what I do with open must buckets.

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Me too!

Malticulous said:

I use a cheap plastic thief that come apart in three pieces.

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I use this too. Usually I have a 5G homer bucket with maybe 1G of starsan solution in it...when it's broken apart into 3 pieces, I can throw it in the sanitizer bucket and get it nice and wet.

Revvy said:

Some folks like a wine thief, but I found that it dribbled just a much if not more than a turkey baster.

Click to expand...

I use this guy and it has worked great for me!

Like others have posted... If I am dry hopping then I grab a sample while transferring to secondary, otherwise I wait till I keg and grab my sample then.

amandabab said:

thiefs work great in carboys and deep buckets.

5 gallons in a bucket, I'd just float a hydrometer in it directly.
It's what I do with open must buckets.

Click to expand...

same here

Siphon a good measure with sanitized tubing. Feels like a beer bong!

d3track said:

I use this guy and it has worked great for me!

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Me too, I sanitize the $h%⅞ out of it and my hydrometer ... typically just drop the hydrometer right into the thief and measure, then drain it back. It does drip a bit but I just make sure to have a wet towel nearby to clean... no problems with this method yet. Might note a refractometer is on my wish list tho...

Better-bottle racking adapter.

My three-piece thief will not hold its pressure, and it takes me 7-8 pulls to fill the cylinder with enough for a nice reading.

Def in the market for a turkey baster; I worry about the 60 sec I have the plug out of the carboy.

Though, someone on these forums provided a great argument to me once that there's so much gas emitting from the carboy, there's no way for O2 to get in for quite awhile after opening it.

I use a big plastic 60ml syringe.