hydrometer kind of pointless ??

ok so I've used the thing a couple times, but honestly I don't really care what it says

I leave my beer in the primary for a MINIMUM of 2 weeks(usualy 3) anyway. I am a little curious of the alcohol %. But its not really important. so does anyone else not use a hydrometer ?

can anyone convince me I SHOULD use one ??

you dont really need one when everything goes according to plan but the only way to know if something has gone wrong (stuck ferment etc...) is to use a hydrometer. also when you get into AG brewing you dont know your OG of efficiency without one.

I always use one. There is a lot you can learn other than ABV%.

Granted, nothing bad will happen if you primary for minimum of 3 weeks then bottle.

Since I am all grain, I take gravity readings to determine efficiency. Although I usually don't take readings to see when the beer is done fermenting, I do use my FG to calculate attenuation. If my yeast pooped out at 1.030 (extreme case), I'd like to know. If I just bottled, I'd have a sweet tasting beer and not know why.

For a new brewer/kit brewer, using one is a matter of preference. The more experience you gain, you will realize it is an extremely useful tool.

Illnasty,

I have a hydrometer same as you and since 'mein Hammerbier'
is usually 8 Lbs of DME with speciality grains steeped in,
I know it will be 6 3/4% alcohol, I don't need a hydrometer reading.
7 Lbs is kinda light and 9 Lbs drys me out in the hot weather,
which in Texas is basically all the time.
I am making the same thing, '8 Lb Hammerbier',
the speciailty grains vary, but that doesn't matter.
If I were making all kinds of different brews
I, of course, could see how a hydrometer would be useful.

As far as time in the primary,
I let the krousen fall, about 5 days then rerack to the secondary.
Another 7 days and bottle.
Thats it, so if the hydrometer reading would be the same as last time,
why bother.


J. Winters VonKnife

If you don't care to monitor your process, then that's your prerogative.

By the same question, why use a thermometer to tell what fermentation or steeping/mash temperature is? Too hot makes for fusel alcohols, too cold retards yeast growth and development. Temp shock your yeast and you end up with a cloying sweet beer that's under fermented. You can check with a hydrometer and ... Oh, wait...

It's a tool that one uses to make the best possible and repeatable outcome. Why strive for mediocrity? If I'm taking my time to do something, why halfass it? I would rather be proud of my accomplishments than be another ho-hum I slapped it together brewer.

*grrr*

I really only use one to check for a stuck fermentation (which has happened to me on my last two brews). I dont trust it completely though, its kind of a crappy cheap one. Its off by a little bit, so i just take that into account when looking at FG. You can definitely make good beer without one but every once in a while you might just get a sicky sweet undrinkable brew cuz your yeast crapped out at 1.020

I'm in the always use one camp. I just took a reading on my Anchor Special Ale Clone that's been 17 days in primary. I took a reading after 8 days and it was at 1.020, which was estimated to be my FG. But because my OG was a bit lower than the estimate, I let it sit. Today it's at 1.014 and far clearer than it was at day 8. The vanilla that I hadn't tasted at day 8 comes through now, as does the slight licorice taste from anise.

Had I not used the hydrometer, I would have gone ahead and bottled because I had already hit my estimated FG. But I'm glad I've decided to wait and happy that I trusted my hydrometer rather than my eyes or an estimate.

My first brew I didn't use one (because I didn't own one )
and it turned out ok. Last batch I did, I didn't get the OG but then bought a hydrometer and by checking my batch found it needed to sit and ferment longer than I would have if I hadn't checked it. This latest batch has been 2 weeks in primary and still sitting at 1.020. It be stuck. I wouldn't know that unless I had checked. I could have gone ahead and bottled and ended up with bottle bombs, but instead I'll swirl a little and let it sit awhile longer. Doesn't hurt to check that final reading and save yourself from potential beer bombs. Besides, you get to taste the progress of your beer by checking.

mmb said:

If you don't care to monitor your process, then that's your prerogative.

By the same question, why use a thermometer to tell what fermentation or steeping/mash temperature is? Too hot makes for fusel alcohols, too cold retards yeast growth and development. Temp shock your yeast and you end up with a cloying sweet beer that's under fermented. You can check with a hydrometer and ... Oh, wait...

It's a tool that one uses to make the best possible and repeatable outcome. Why strive for mediocrity? If I'm taking my time to do something, why halfass it? I would rather be proud of my accomplishments than be another ho-hum I slapped it together brewer.

*grrr*

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ba70665 said:

I really only use one to check for a stuck fermentation (which has happened to me on my last two brews). I dont trust it completely though, its kind of a crappy cheap one. Its off by a little bit, so i just take that into account when looking at FG. You can definitely make good beer without one but every once in a while you might just get a sicky sweet undrinkable brew cuz your yeast crapped out at 1.020

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I both agree and disagree. Hydrometers are useful for all-grain brewing, where knowing and hitting OG targets is an important part of the process. Taking good hydrometer readings at that time is an important part of making good beer.

For extract brewers, I think a hydrometer is overrated. The gravity will be what it will be based on the quantity of extract and water. Calculating a "paper OG" based on measurements is plenty accurate for extract brewing.

I think once the yeast is in the fermenter, the hydrometer is much less useful. Sure, you can use it to tell if a beer is ready to bottle, but my experience tells me that simply allowing fermentation to go for three weeks works 90+% of the time. The rest of the time, taste and smell are enough to tell you something's wrong. I think more harm than good is done by encouraging new brewers to dig around in their fermenters every day.

Also, I think it's a bit overboard to accuse the OP of being a half-assed brewer. Brewing is a craft, and there are a lot of different ways to do it.

Rather than re-hash my point any further, I'll link back to a blog entry from a few weeks ago:

http://blogs.homebrewtalk.com/jds/My_Heresy__Beginners_do_not_need_hydrometers/

jds said:

...
I think once the yeast is in the fermenter, the hydrometer is much less useful. Sure, you can use it to tell if a beer is ready to bottle, but my experience tells me that simply allowing fermentation to go for three weeks works 90+% of the time. The rest of the time, taste and smell are enough to tell you something's wrong. I think more harm than good is done by encouraging new brewers to dig around in their fermenters every day.

Also, I think it's a bit overboard to accuse the OP of being a half-assed brewer. Brewing is a craft, and there are a lot of different ways to do it.

Rather than re-hash my point any further, I'll link back to a blog entry from a few weeks ago:

http://blogs.homebrewtalk.com/jds/My_Heresy__Beginners_do_not_need_hydrometers/

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that is just how I feel. I think too much emphasis is put into the "science" of beer. I feel beer brewing should be like cooking. When I cook I NEVER follow a recipe 100%.... add a little of this and a pinch of that. that surprise and excitement is what I love about both cooking and brewing... you never know just what you've made ! hell I don't think I COULD possibly make the exact same beer twice, whats the fun in that ??


Most of my brews all have some sort of "strange" ingredients, whether it be honey or brown sugar, marshmellows, chocolate, cinnamon you name it !

I pretty much quit using mine - unless I need to find out where something is to add water/etc to get to the right boil/fermenter volumes.

illnastyimpreza said:

that is just how I feel. I think too much emphasis is put into the "science" of beer. I feel beer brewing should be like cooking. When I cook I NEVER follow a recipe 100%.... add a little of this and a pinch of that. that surprise and excitement is what I love about both cooking and brewing... you never know just what you've made ! hell I don't think I COULD possibly make the exact same beer twice, whats the fun in that ??


Most of my brews all have some sort of "strange" ingredients, whether it be honey or brown sugar, marshmellows, chocolate, cinnamon you name it !

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Don't get me wrong -- I've formulated a few beers I really like, and I will use my hydrometer plenty during an AG brew to ensure I hit the gravity as closely as possible so I can duplicate something that's come before. I also do this so when I put one of my recipes "out there", somebody could duplicate it if they wanted to. For AG brewing, a hydrometer is damn near indispensable.

It's just that once I've got a beer in the fermenter, I stop with the hydrometer. Half the time, I forget to take FG until the beer is carbonated and ready to serve -- since I keg, I don't worry about bottle bombs, and good yeast management takes away concerns rising from underattenuation.

jds said:

... and good yeast management takes away concerns rising from underattenuation.

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Unless you use Windsor...

jds said:

I think once the yeast is in the fermenter, the hydrometer is much less useful. Sure, you can use it to tell if a beer is ready to bottle, but my experience tells me that simply allowing fermentation to go for three weeks works 90+% of the time. The rest of the time, taste and smell are enough to tell you something's wrong. I think more harm than good is done by encouraging new brewers to dig around in their fermenters every day.

Also, I think it's a bit overboard to accuse the OP of being a half-assed brewer. Brewing is a craft, and there are a lot of different ways to do it.

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I think that if you are careful about sanitation and pitching temps 90% is pessimistic. I went for five years back in the '90's where I brewed a batch every week or so. Extract plus Steeped. Probably 200 batches total. In all that time I had zero stuck fermentations, zero infections, zero soggy cardboard tastes, zero solvent tastes. I just followed the 1-2-3 rule and got 200 finished beers that could be rated interesting at worst, really good as the norm, and amazing quite often.

Oh yeah, I also got zero bottle bombs during that time. This is important because this is probably the most usual reason given for absolutely needing a hydrometer. Yes bottle bombs are scary and dangerous. But you have to really screw up to get one. A gravity of 1.020 (or even 1.030) plus priming sugar is prettly easily handled by a sealed bottle because the yeast become inhibited under pressure.

I can also give of very long list of references (friends and family) who still fondly remember those beers as the best they ever had and who would never accuse me of being a half-assed brewer.

That said, I do use a hydrometer to check for alcohol content, if I remember it, but I never take multiple readings for three days to see if the reading is static. That's crazy talk. That's like a whole beer wasted. If a beer wants to go ahead and blow up in the bottle after three weeks in fermenters then it just wasn't meant to be.

^ good show

If you don't use a hydrometer you're only guessing.

How do you KNOW it's done fermenting and not stuck? You don't.

By racking to a bottling bucket you also rouse some yeast. From there fermentation can take place again when adding priming sugar to the bottles and CABLOOEY!! Bottle grenades.

homebrewer_99 said:

If you don't use a hydrometer you're only guessing.

How do you KNOW it's done fermenting and not stuck? You don't.

By racking to a bottling bucket you also rouse some yeast. From there fermentation can take place again when adding priming sugar to the bottles and CABLOOEY!! Bottle grenades.

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I always kick my primaries after like 5 days or so... and I also keg, so grenades are non existant

I just bought and used it for the first time in my 2nd batch. Took an OG reading and that was that.

I may not know the specifics of it all, but like someone else mentioned; it's a tool. Same as a level. Sure I can eyeball if the picture is straight and that's fine. But if I have a level, I may not have a reason of doubt.

I'm a noob, and I figured that anything that can help me make better beer, is welcome. Just like these forums are a tool.

jds said:

For extract brewers, I think a hydrometer is overrated. The gravity will be what it will be based on the quantity of extract and water. Calculating a "paper OG" based on measurements is plenty accurate for extract brewing.

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I think this is inaccurate. Sure, you can calculate the starting gravity just fine, but there are so many variables that can happen during the fermentation that you can't be sure where you end up.

Yeast is not something that always behaves the same way, a temperature difference of a couple of degrees will give you a differing result, and you should be prepared for that.

We're all cautious about sanitation and the like, why not be safe on all the other aspects of brewing as well? If you're lazy and you don't care, I guess that's fine, but your process, repeatability, and overall knowledge will suffer if you don't know what your numbers were.

did revvy post not to post a 'is my fermentation stuck' or 'should i bottle/rack yet?' thread, if you don't take a gravity reading yet?

Oy, vey. Is there some sort of machine that goes "Bing!" every couple of days, and spawns yet another iteration of this topic?

Use a hydrometer or don't. You don't need one, regardless of whether you're brewing AG or extract. Repeatability, monitoring of fermentation, etc. - those things just aren't important to some people. You have to decide if you're a person who likes controlling things, or if you prefer to just throw things together and let the fallout drift randomly.

Me, I like to throw things together - but then I take detailed notes of how much of what I threw in the pot. Frankly, I can't abide the science vs. art debate; brewing is at its core a combination of art and science, heavily weighted toward the latter. You want art, go make wine, where you people respect you for throwing ingredients into a pot and praying it comes out drinkable.

Do what you like; brew the beer you like. Make informed choices. Just realize that some people get cranky when you come crying about something that could have been avoided had you chosen differently. It's one thing to choose not to use a level; it's another to cry if the house falls down because you've chosen to not use a level.

Bluntly, if you choose not to use a hydrometer, you abdicate the right to complain and/or worry when a ferment doesn't go according to plan.

Cheers,

Bob

uglygoat said:

did revvy post not to post a 'is my fermentation stuck' or 'should i bottle/rack yet?' thread, if you don't take a gravity reading yet?

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I've said the same thing! You can't complain about bottle bombs either.

Well, we're in the realm of flagellating a deceased equine, aren't we?

Frankly, I'm just stupefied by the stubborn resistance of so many to use an instrument priced at less than $10 that has been proven time and time again to be invaluable to understanding the language of fermentation. <shrug>

If I need to diagnose and troubleshoot a persnickety fermentation, that little float is worth its weight in gold and beer.

flyangler18 said:

Well, we're in the realm of flagellating a deceased equine, aren't we?

Frankly, I'm just stupefied by the stubborn resistance of so many to use an instrument priced at less than $10 that has been proven time and time again to be invaluable to understanding the language of fermentation. <shrug>

If I need to diagnose and troubleshoot a persnickety fermentation, that little float is worth its weight in gold and beer.

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I have not yet had any problems with any of my brews....untill I do I will probably not bother with using one again (untill I go AG)

I have nothing to add other than I'm stoked that this thread contains the words abdicate, flagellate and persnickety. (Extra points to fly angler for using two of those.)

BobNQ3X said:

Bluntly, if you choose not to use a hydrometer, you abdicate the right to complain and/or worry when a ferment doesn't go according to plan.

Cheers,

Bob

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My feelings also.
I use a refractometer until I need to measure my wort with alcohol in it.
Repeatability as much as I can do it requires tools and fairly prescise measurement. Don't matter if it is beer, wine or cake.

NO! NO! NO! NO!
Ten characters yet?

I have nothing to add other than I'm stoked that this thread contains the words abdicate, flagellate and persnickety.

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Glad that Bob and I could help, Ed!

I have not yet had any problems with any of my brews....untill I do I will probably not bother with using one again

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Given enough batches, you will encounter a ferment that will make you scratch your head. Without actually knowing how to use the hydrometer and understand what it is telling you, you're doing the equivalent of reading tea leaves.

Your call.

illnastyimpreza said:

can anyone convince me I SHOULD use one ??

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Bottling a stuck batch, and having it come back to life in the bottles should be convincing.

I can tell you you should use one all day long but I won't. I too loath my hydro but, I am just too lazy to mess with it. Instead I prefer to let taste be my guide. I am still learning this.

Lately, I have been using a racking cane as a thief to pull a small ~1Ounce sample from the column. After the yeast have been at work for some time I'll snag a sample to taste how it is going. Is it too sweet, dry, hot, etc.....

And I let this tell me how to proceed. With my Ales I have nearly perfected this and all my beers are perfect to my palate. It's the lagers I am struggling with these days. Hard to taste behind the butter and such. I had never realised how odd some lagers taste before the yeast has had some time to clean up.Now a days, I am trying to learn how best to guage when to D-rest without having to use the hydro.