OG readings effected by sediment?

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Whammo

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I was wondering if suspended sediment in the wort in any way effects hydrometer readings.

Any ideas?
 
homebrewer_99 said:
I'm trying to understand your question, but have one of my own: Why would you measure sediment?:confused:

What's the condition/situation you are looking at?

Im not... I am wondering if particles in suspension in any way throw off the gravity readings of the wort..

The more particles in suspension = less water in test jar by volume.

However now that I think about it, it doesnt seem to matter what volume you test when you take a reading so maybe it doesnt matter.
 
Whammo said:
I was wondering if suspended sediment in the wort in any way effects hydrometer readings.

Any ideas?

Don't feel bad Whammo, I have wondered that on several occasions. Especially while making a IIPA, the 8 ounces of pellet hops suspended in solution would seem to have some sort of effect, right? I didn't really worry about it too much though, it tastes great and the abv is definitely there:drunk: .
 
Whammo said:
I was wondering if suspended sediment in the wort in any way effects hydrometer readings.

Any ideas?

Sediment does not affect the gravity reading. If it is in suspension then it seems to be almost as dense as your wort/beer and it it's on the bottom then it is on the bottom. Only if it floats on top I could imagine it throwing off your reading.

Kai
 
Shambolic said:
Stuff floating in the sample doesn't change its density - only dissolved stuff does. So floaty bits won't change your reading.

Well, I'm not quite sure about this. I know that foam, especially dense one, surely affects the reading. I just wanted to play on the safe side.

The only thing you really have to watch out for are bubbles on the hydrometer ;).

Kai
 
Kaiser said:
Well, I'm not quite sure about this. I know that foam, especially dense one, surely affects the reading. I just wanted to play on the safe side.

The only thing you really have to watch out for are bubbles on the hydrometer ;).

Kai

What I meant to add was...

...unless stuff sticks to your hydrometer (this includes foam sitting on top of the sample). Then it will throw off your reading. Otherwise though, what I said stands.
 
Shambolic said:
What I meant to add was...
...unless stuff sticks to your hydrometer (this includes foam sitting on top of the sample). Then it will throw off your reading. Otherwise though, what I said stands.

I meant that even if it doesnt stick to your hydromenter it will throw your reading off. Just because the density of the foam is greater than air and less than wort/beer.

Kai
 
if it's not stuck to the hydro, then it can just be considered mass in the beer that is displacing liquid. It would be the same as having a marble in the bottom of the test tube.... the marble won't affect the density of the liquid itself.

-walker
 
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