My first Hydrometer reading

From what I understand I need a reading of 1.010 before I move to secondary.

My primary has been setup now for 4 days.... my hydrometer reading indicates is at 52, which I persume is .52?

As I understand the alcohol level is low.... and I'm guessing the more time it spends in primary,t he closer it will get to my 1.010 target?

Am I correct?

Thanks

Also is it safe at this state to take a test sip?

momodig said:

From what I understand I need a reading of 1.010 before I move to secondary.

My primary has been setup now for 4 days.... my hydrometer reading indicates is at 52, which I persume is .52?

As I understand the alcohol level is low.... and I'm guessing the more time it spends in primary,t he closer it will get to my 1.010 target?

Am I correct?

Thanks

Click to expand...

What was the OG?

You dont need to have a FG of 1.010 before going to secondary. Some beers finish at 1.015 or higher, you never reach 1.010

Your hydrometer reading will DROP as the alcohol increases, alcohol is less dense, thus letting the hydrometer sink further, lower reading.

My guess is you are reading the hydrometer wrong.

What was the OG?

I'm very new at this what is OG?

Original gravity...

What was the hydrometer reading BEFORE you fermented the beer? You need an OG to get a good idea of your FG, finishing gravity.

I can tell you now that you will never get a FG of .52, it will always be about 1.008 or higher, typically 1.008 to 1.020.

So, your reading is incorrect.

My OG was 1.04.... I looked at my meter and it's .65 --

I have two sets of numbers on my hydro-meter...

Top of meter

First set of numbers Second set of numbers
80
90
1.00
10 26
20 52
30 78
50
50


no i looked at the second set of numbers when I read it.... which is 65

Does that mean my reading is 1.0365

I'm sorry... if I sound dumb... I hope this makes sense.

Please help thanks-- it's not doing my colums, I feel stupid.

1.040 seems about right for an OG, but I really think you're looking at the wrong part of your hydro right now. I don't have mine in front of me, but I remember it can be kinda confusing if you're not used to it...

momodig said:

My OG was 1.04.... I looked at my meter and it's .65 -- I don't think I"m reading it wrong I just looked at the instructions...

I have two sets of numbers on my hydro-meter...

Top of meter

First set of numbers Second set of numbers
80
90
1.00
10 <--- this is 1.010 26
20 <-- this is 1.020 52
30 78
50
50


no i looked at the second set of numbers when I read it.... which is 65

Does that mean my reading is 1.0365

I'm sorry... if I sound dumb... I hope this makes sense.

Please help thanks

Click to expand...

The first set of numbers is your gravity, read it like this.

.80
.90
1.00
1.010
1.020
1.030
1.040
1.050 etc....

Your OG was 1.040, that looks good, but on that same scale you should be able to find your current gravity.

Thanks so much for you patients... it would appear my hydro reading is 1.0365 (does this seem right)

But on my meter I also see an "Alcohol by volume" reading.... To have 5 percent alcohol you need an reading of approx. 1.04

But according to my reading now.... my alcohol reading is below 5%, it's approx at 4%...

As you stated "Your hydrometer reading will DROP as the alcohol increases, alcohol is less dense, thus letting the hydrometer sink further, lower reading." if my hydro meter drops it seems my alcohol level will decrease even more?

Sorry if I"m not getting this, but I would really like to understand this

the alcohol meter on your hydrometer is an approximation of how much alcohol you could have once it's done fermenting, not where it's currently at. so your OG of 1.040 would give you about 5% abv once everything is all said and done. 1.0365 is possible, esp if your fermentation was slow to start off... give it till a full week is up and then take another reading

One last last question and I really appreciate all the help... is it safe to sip the beer in it's current state?

Like numbers said, you are misunderstanding the numbers on your hydromter. A beer that starts at 1.040 will have a POTENTIAL alcohol of say 5%. Obviously before you put the yeast in, it read 1.040 and 5% alc. Well, logically you cannot have 5% alcohol in a beer that has not yet fermented.

Your beer should finish at about 1.010, but I have to say I have NEVER seen a hydrometer that will read down to 1.0365... 1.036 or 1.038 yes, but they are typically not graduated to ten thousandths.

Here is a video for you, this may clear things up.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/beginner-video-how-read-hydrometer-67311/

momodig said:

One last last question and I really appreciate all the help... is it safe to sip the beer in it's current state?

Click to expand...

You can sip all you want, but keep everything sterile or it will get infected.

Couple more things... it it safe to take a sip of the bear from the baker I used to take the readings?

And once the hydro readings stay constant, that means it' can be racked to secondary correct?

and to answer your question, as long as you used sanitized equipment to pull the sample all should be well

The most important step in taking a hydrometer reading is drinking the sample when you're done! If you don't drink it then your beer will turn out wrong. It's a proven fact. All part of the process. I'm seriously.

I may have goofed up I was my hands... but I kinda use my hand to get the beer in to the beaker... I should have used my syphon.... which means it will probably get infected?

Should I shoot it out? and start over?

Re-read the meter... my error my reading is 1.03... the 65 is another colum that reads approx sugar per gallon...

NEVER DUMP YOUR BEER!!!

You're probably just fine. If you aren't, you won't know for a while but it will become obvious. Read through all the "is my beer ruined?" posts on here about people sticking their entire arm in their beer to fish out a dropped stopper or something and the vast majority of them came out fine.

Next time you're at your brew shop, pick up a wine thief. It's the easiest way to get a sample for your hydrometer.

Thanks all for you help