jpeebs
Well-Known Member
I'm looking around my house for something tall enough and having a hard time!! I know the local shop sells beakers that would work, just tryin to be eonomical.
what do you use to take gravity samples?
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I'm using this set: http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/3-piece-thief-plastic.html
No real complaints, and it's tall enough to reach inside the carboy with no issues. Plus it's pretty cheap
No real complaints, and it's tall enough to reach inside the carboy with no issues. Plus it's pretty cheap
RobertRGeorge
Well-Known Member
I have a device that looks like a *very* large bottling wand with a gravity valve at the bottom. A thin hydrometer fits inside, and you push it down into the carboy, suck on the end if you need to draw the beer further up, bring it out, take a reading and let the beer drain back down into the carboy. It works pretty well though you have to sometimes take a couple readings to average out the effect of any bubbles in the liquid. They're widely available in BC but I don't know if they are anywhere else. I believe they are made in France.
Not all hydrometers come in a tube that is usable
As long as it is deep enough,
I don't know if boiling your hydrometer is the best way to sterilize it though.
im confused by "as long as its deep enough". The beer is in the primary bucket so plenty deep. Why is boiling hydrometer not a good way to sterilize?
Not all primary buckets are as deep, I have one that has a larger diameter and is not deep enough to float my hydrometer,
Boiling may damage the hydrometer, it is pretty fragile.
A quick dip in a sanitizer, like Star-San for example, is safer for your hydrometer.
Of course that is just my opinion, you will get other views on the subject.
Boiling may damage the hydrometer, it is pretty fragile.
A quick dip in a sanitizer, like Star-San for example, is safer for your hydrometer.
Of course that is just my opinion, you will get other views on the subject.
whats the point to it? heating and cooling thin glass is usually not good juju.
and your just sanitizing by boiling, which you could've effectively done with some starsan, iodine, alcohol, etc.
I don't think I've ever sanitized my hydrometer... the sample just never needs to go back.
and your just sanitizing by boiling, which you could've effectively done with some starsan, iodine, alcohol, etc.
I don't think I've ever sanitized my hydrometer... the sample just never needs to go back.
I use the outer tube of my racking cane like a thief to pull the sample.
The one hydrometer I have is narrow enough to float in it. The other hydrometer I have is too wide so I use the tube one if the hydrometers came in with only one end that opens with that hydrometer. To fill the tube from the auto siphon tube I just stick the top of the hydrometer into the opening in the base of the auto siphon to push open the valve.
The one hydrometer I have is narrow enough to float in it. The other hydrometer I have is too wide so I use the tube one if the hydrometers came in with only one end that opens with that hydrometer. To fill the tube from the auto siphon tube I just stick the top of the hydrometer into the opening in the base of the auto siphon to push open the valve.
gotcha
Soup4you2 said:I'm using this set: http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/3-piece-thief-plastic.html
No real complaints, and it's tall enough to reach inside the carboy with no issues. Plus it's pretty cheap
I have the same thief.. Do you have problems with it leaking before you can get it to the test jar? I don't know if my thumb is smooth / fat enough to make a good seal, but mine leaks when I get it out of the fermenter.
I like this thief:
http://www.austinhomebrew.com/product_info.php?cPath=178_67_363&products_id=1227
It does drip from the bottom but it is a gravity valve so it only drips a little but it is super easy to use. I put the hydrometer into it, lower it into the carboy until the hydrometer floats, pull it out and take a reading. Don't know what I would do without out this. Testing takes literally 15 seconds and you can check the gravity valve against the neck of your carboy and drain the sample back into the fermenter so you don't lose any beer! (be sure to sanitize everything as always). Highly recommended.
http://www.austinhomebrew.com/product_info.php?cPath=178_67_363&products_id=1227
It does drip from the bottom but it is a gravity valve so it only drips a little but it is super easy to use. I put the hydrometer into it, lower it into the carboy until the hydrometer floats, pull it out and take a reading. Don't know what I would do without out this. Testing takes literally 15 seconds and you can check the gravity valve against the neck of your carboy and drain the sample back into the fermenter so you don't lose any beer! (be sure to sanitize everything as always). Highly recommended.
kombat
Well-Known Member
JoeyChopps
Well-Known Member
Also with boiling a hydrometer I put mine in the dishwasher once I don't remember why and the lead or wax that holds the little bb weights melted and ruined my hydrometer. So +1 to star san
I have a wide 8 gallon bucket. A 2.5 gallon batch only comes up a few inches.
Also, some people ferment in carboys- it can be impossible to get a hydrometer in or out!
One thing to keep in mind about putting the hydrometer right in the bucket is that it's more accurate to get an "eye level" reading. You can get a good ballpark by looking at the hydrometer in the bucket, but not an exact measurement if that matters. Usually, I aerate my wort so well that the primary is full of foam and there is no way I'd be able to see the level of the wort.
So I use a sanitized turkey baster, pull out the sample to the test jar, and read it. I don't sanitize the jar or hydrometer, since it's not going back into the wort. Then I pitch the yeast and put on the lid and airlock and come back in 10 days or so.
J187
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I battle with this sometimes - the slightly larger tubes with the base the LBS sells take better samples - the hydro doesn't stick on the sides as much and it's a cleaner look - the problem with them is, it's a decent amount more wort lost due to the larger size.
kombat
Well-Known Member
Wouldn't having such a large surface area of beer, combined with so much headspace, dramatically increase the risk of oxidation? Why take the chance? Why not just ferment in a more appropriately-sized vessel?
Well, I make a ton of wine. And the headspace with grapes is totally necessary.
In fact, I don't even use a lid or airlock for primary for wine, so believe me oxidation is not a problem. You stir like two times per day, and having the lid off makes it 100 times easier. In short, it IS an appropriately sized fermenter for what I do.
It's only when fermentation slows that headspace and oxidation is an issue. Since my wines go to secondary and are airlocked when they reach 1.020-1.010, there is no worry. Oxidation isn't a problem until after that point.
dstranger99
Well-Known Member
What does OP even need a container for? Just drop the hydro in your primary to get the readings........
Tough to do in a carboy!
Obliviousbrew
Well-Known Member
Well a lot of hydrometer bring with their instruccions the recomendation of not boiling them, you can either crack the glass because is not meant to be boil or if your using the hydrometers with a paper scale inside you run the risk to move that little paper and throw your readings off.
dstranger99
Well-Known Member
Oh, ok...Well, that would be hard... lol.........
And it's why I always use buckets for primary to do the SG & FG, so much easier to just star san the hydro and drop it in.......
OP
OP
jpeebs
Well-Known Member
dstranger99 said:
Op is new to this and trying to make sure it gets done right.
Boerderij_Kabouter
Well-Known Member
I have pretty much everything on this page. http://www.williamsbrewing.com/HYDROMETERS-REFRACTOMETERS-C74.aspx
I use the big stainless turkey baster and love it. The glass hydrojar is a big step up in my opinion.
I use the big stainless turkey baster and love it. The glass hydrojar is a big step up in my opinion.
J187
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I use buckets and still don't take readings right in the bucket. Pain in the ass with Krausen, eye level, etc. I still prefer to take samples from the middle with a turkey baster, check hydro, and toss the sample - or drink it. Not to mention the danger of getting my face/head/hair, etc so close to the beer in the fermenter...
I use a 60cc veterinary syringe (less the needle) and a foot or two of small (1/8" id??) tubing from the local Fleet-Farm type store. The tubing is small enough to fit through the airlock grommet on my primary so doesn't even require removing the fermenter cover, just pull the airlock.
The ~60cc sample is just about perfect fill level for the tube I use with the hydrometer.
The ~60cc sample is just about perfect fill level for the tube I use with the hydrometer.
dadshomebrewing
Well-Known Member
if you happen to be a small batch (1 gallon) brewer, be careful to get a smaller hydrometer and tube.
the standard sized ones at the homebrew store use 1/2 cup per reading.
that isn't much to the 5 gallon folks, but there aren't a lot of 1/2 cup samples to spare in a 1 gallon batch if you want to fill a sixer.
the standard sized ones at the homebrew store use 1/2 cup per reading.
that isn't much to the 5 gallon folks, but there aren't a lot of 1/2 cup samples to spare in a 1 gallon batch if you want to fill a sixer.
Here it is: it is a larger diameter than standard ale buckets which makes it shallower, my hydrometer hits the bottom.
http://www.ldcarlson.com/images/5115.jpg
I make 5 gallon batches in an Ale Pail, so its always deep enough to put a sanitized hydrometer in, even a long hydrometer like this:
http://www.williamsbrewing.com/BREWERS-EDGE-BOTTLING-HYDROMETER-P529.aspx
This hydrometer is very easy to read, even from above as opposed to eye level. Its fragile, so treat it with care. But its so much easier to see the correct gravity, and its easier than pulling a sample and losing that sample (drinking uncarbonated room temperature beer)
http://www.williamsbrewing.com/BREWERS-EDGE-BOTTLING-HYDROMETER-P529.aspx
This hydrometer is very easy to read, even from above as opposed to eye level. Its fragile, so treat it with care. But its so much easier to see the correct gravity, and its easier than pulling a sample and losing that sample (drinking uncarbonated room temperature beer)
OP
OP
jpeebs
Well-Known Member
I was all excited about doing my batch correctly and taking readings with my hydrometer so I could tell when it was done fermenting. Then I opened the hydrometer and it fell out and broke...And local store is of course closed on sundays. Sigh...
