Saving Wort to Check Gravity Later

I'm in a little dilemma here. I want to brew tonight but my hydrometers are at other people's places. Is it possible to set aside some post-boil wort in a sterilized container, throw it in the fridge, and check the gravity in a few days when I get one of my hydrometers back? Should I just go out and buy another (a moderate hassle and unneeded expense)?

don't see why not as long as you keep wild fermenting critters away. Refrigeration should do the trick I'd think.

Yeah that's what I'm thinking. I just wanted to run the idea by other people to make sure I wasn't missing something. But I think if I have good sanitation and warm the wort back up for the hydrometer reading, it should be fine.

Ive done this before. Don't really worry about a sterilized container. I put mine in a cup with plastic wrap in the fridge until I found my hydrometer. The fridge is cool enough to keep any nasties from growing on it for a few days.

The great thing when I did this was that I put it into the test vial and let it sit for about 20 minutes. When I tested the temp, it was exactly at 60F. No calculations needed!

Thanks Edcculus. That is reassuring, especially since I'm done with my batch and have the gravity sample in the fridge. Cheers.

You could also use that saved wort in a sterilized container to bottle condition, make yeast starters or kreausen the secondary.