Okay, so now I give a $#!%

Follow-up to yesterday's "Aw, who gives a $#!%" thread...



Seeing the transformation with me own two eyeballs has me wanting all the quantifiable poop I can get on the subject, and so the hydrometer becomes infinitely more exciting. Hope the iffy readings I got from yesterday's first stumbling attempt with it are usable ... but if not oh well; we'll do better next time. I've heard so many reassurances of how unlikely it is that anyone'll totally eff up their brew that I simply refuse to get wrapped around the axle about this, or practically anything else having to do with home brewing. I asked a question yesterday and within twenty minutes had like a dozen replies. Wowee zowie, nice to know hwlp's right here if (when) I need it! And thanks to all!

Looks good and healthy. I think the only real way to mess up a brew is to forget adding the malts (hop water anyone?) or to give your dog a bath in it before you transfer it to the primary.

EDIT: On a more serious note, your hydrometer is good for estimating abv if you know OG and FG. It is also good for telling if fermentation is done and it's time to move to secondary or bottle (same SG for at least two points over the course of several days). Some people dont care about gravity readings and just know when things are ready.

Deacon240 said:

Looks good and healthy. I think the only real way to mess up a brew is to forget adding the malts (hop water anyone?) or to give your dog a bath in it before you transfer it to the primary.

Click to expand...

You've never tried anything from Hair of the Dog Brewing CO in Portland OR then, have you?

Hair of the Dog Brewing Company Home Page

Anyone who knows me personally wouldn't bet two cents I'd leave the hydrometer to collect dust, just not consistent with the way I normally go about stuff. On the other hand, I occasionally skip measuring tools to enjoy a zen. But prolly not with this.

mmb said:

You've never tried anything from Hair of the Dog Brewing CO in Portland OR then, have you?

Hair of the Dog Brewing Company Home Page

Click to expand...

Lets hope they really dont do that... I know my boys(A German Shepherd and a Lab/pit mix) can get into some pretty nasty stuff. The Lab/pit mix is white and every time I give him a bath nothin but nasty black water comes off of him. Oddly he gets out of the tub as white as before, go figure.

Hopsalong said:

Anyone who knows me personally wouldn't bet two cents I'd leave the hydrometer to collect dust, just not consistent with the way I normally go about stuff. On the other hand, I occasionally skip measuring tools to enjoy a zen. But prolly not with this.

Click to expand...

I think it's a slacker thing more than a zen..... I use my hydro maybe 3 times for one batch. Once as it's going into the primary, once after a good week+ and once before bottling (the last two are my favorite, it tastes like beer then!)

I take the OG to determine my extract efficiency since I typically brew AG. When I make an extract kit I don't bother taking the OG since I know what it will be based on the recipe and volume in the fermenter.

FG reading gives me an idea of how attenuated the product is. For AG if it's too high or too low I know I need to adjust my mash temp. For extract I may consider using a different yeast the next time to get the level of attenuation I want in the brew. Generally my SG is within one point of the predicted gravity with AG, with extracts it's usually a lot more variable.