How much is too much: Hydrometer readings taking my beer away!

I use the hydrometer. Yes.
I also want as much finished product/beer as possible. Yes

I have noticed many people take several Hydrometer readings 2-3 days in a row looking for the "finished fermenting" thing.

So.. this leads me to my topic: If I take a reading before primary and then 3 times after primary to check for completion, All that beer just goes to waste! (even if I drink the sampling, of course)

That's about a half gallon of beer wasted! By my notes, a half gallon is a growler of beer, which is also $10 at least at a brewery.

Is there a better way?

P.S.
I have thought about using the little hydrometer's packing tube to do the readings, because it is much much smaller than the big science beaker thing I'm currently using.

I typically don't take more than 1 or 2 readings. However on a normal brew I don't even think about taking a reading until something like 2 weeks has passed. Typically the reading is down to where I want it by that point so there is no need to take another.

I don't use a secondary though and I leave my batches in the primary for 3-4 weeks before going straight to a keg and bottle.

Pitch the correct amount of yeast.
Leave it alone for three weeks, minding the temp.
When you're ready to bottle/keg it, check it once. If you did everything right, it'll be done.

I take one hydrometer reading to ensure my beer is done, but I wait a couple of weeks and I know what I'm looking for when I do. My beer is always done fermenting before I check and I use it to keep notes on the finished product. You can use the thinner tube as long as the hydrometer doesn't stick to the sides. The more you take these readings and the more you know about the process, the more you'll know what to expect. In the meantime, it is worth knowing that your beer is on track.

At the very least wait the two weeks, take a reading, and then take a second reading three days later. That should do it for you.

If you are careful about sanitizing all of your equipment you could just put the sample back into the fermentor. I do NOT recommend this but it is an option!

Another option is to get a gravity sample tube, should be smaller than than the beaker you are using, I think they are about 3 or 4 oz's.

I usually just wait at least 3 weeks for primary then bottle. Of course I take a gravity reading at bottling time. This is what I do and has worked for me so far.

Good luck!

I have a hydrometer, I don't even bother using it. I guess I don't really care to find out exactly how much alcohol is in a brew. I don't drink more than a couple anyway. Flavor is more important to me.

You could get a refractometer since they require much less brew.

I brew beer just to drink. I'll take an O.G. right before I pitch to see how efficient my brew day was and than just trust my yeast will do its thing.

After 2 weeks in Primary, rack to keg and carb. If something seems out of the ordinary during fermentation I might check the gravity again, but normally I just let it do what it is going to do and keg it.

Others who are more into replicating recipes or are anal about the styles would call me lazy and I would agree with them but I just want something to drink and it works for me.

I usually just take two readings. Pre-fermentation.. then post-fermentation after all the bubbling has slowed to about 1/min.

KevinW said:

If you are careful about sanitizing all of your equipment you could just put the sample back into the fermentor. I do NOT recommend this but it is an option!

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This is what I do. I use a Fermtech wine thief, which is easy to get the sample back into the beer. I make DARNED sure everything is sanitized well, though, being meticulous about the wine thief and the hydrometer. I figure it's made me more paranoid than I was when I was using my turkey baster, so I'm probably safer than I was before. It's a decent product, but if you were doing smaller batches, I wouldn't recommend it, as it can be harder to fill with less than 5 gallons of beer.

As a fellow brewer who hates wasting a drop, good luck, and please note -- my two cents is typically worth far less than two cents.

I put the samples back. If I sanitize properly and I put the thief in the beer in the first place, how much worse can it be putting the sample back? The only other surface introduced to the sample is the hydrometer.
And I only take, at most, 2 samples after the OG reading. First, give plenty of time to finish fermenting, don't rush it. Then take a reading, wait 2 more days (or more) and take another reading. If they are the same, then the days in the middle should be the same as well.


Maybe I've been lucky but that's what I do.

tamoore said:

Pitch the correct amount of yeast.
Leave it alone for three weeks, minding the temp.
When you're ready to bottle/keg it, check it once. If you did everything right, it'll be done.

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+1 To this.

Brewbelly said:

If I take a reading before primary and then 3 times after primary to check for completion...

That's about a half gallon of beer wasted!

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4 hydrometer readings is taking a half gallon of beer?!? Get a smaller sample container and you won't need nearly as much beer. You can pick one up at your LHBS that's just big enough for the hydrometer to fit in it and not touch the sides. Then, when you take your sample, put the hydrometer in the tube first and add beer until it floats. No need to fill it to the top if it's going to float when it's only 1/4 full!

I use a turkey baster to fill up the thin hydromiter tube. with 3 to 4 readings you are not using more than 12 ounces at most. thats only 1 beer to make sure everything is ready. I think it is well worth it.

I use 100 ml for each sample, which is 3.38 oz. If you're taking 16 oz per sample, you need to look at your procedure.

I use the hydro tube it came in, I have it marked to the point that it wont overflow when putting the hydrometer in, I take a sample and a reading, then put the tube with the sample back in the fermentation fridge, I figure there is yeast suspended in the sample just as in the carboy, so if it isnt done yet it will ferment further too, then I take my readings from that tube several more days to verify it is done, the first time I did this I cross checked against the carboy and had identical results, so now I only take one sample for OG when racking into carboy and one to check repeatedly for FG. YMMV but it works for me!

Gman2 said:

I use a turkey baster to fill up the thin hydromiter tube. with 3 to 4 readings you are not using more than 12 ounces at most. thats only 1 beer to make sure everything is ready. I think it is well worth it.

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QFT but I do not use the hydro tube. I got a glass vase. It looks like this: http://www.tias.com/13370/PictPage/1923144371.html (I only used that link for the pic, I am not and have no idea of the reputation of that site.) Needless to say you can find these in just about any goodwill or craft shop for 3 dollars or less. This allows me to get a nice reading, in an easy to clean, container that has a bit thicker walls than a test tube. I know that the world market carries these in store often as well for $2.99.

You can buy a refractometer on Ebay for about $30. I recommend buying one. It only takes a drop or two of your beer.

From what I've read, a refractometer is only accurate for pre-fermentation readings and that once alcohol is involved, it's much less reliable.

I use a test bottle. When you first put the batch into the carboy, save a little out & put it in a bottle. I usually plug the bottle with a paper towel. If it gets infected it doesn't matter. The readings will still be acurate.

A satellite fermenter (holding off some of your wort to ferment in a smaller container) won't really tell you what's going on in your main fermenter. They can ferment at very different rates.

Just buy a wine thief for $10 and your problems are solved! That competes with my Autosiphon for favorite piece of equipment so far that makes life easier.

FermentedNovice said:

This is what I do. I use a Fermtech wine thief, which is easy to get the sample back into the beer. I make DARNED sure everything is sanitized well, though, being meticulous about the wine thief and the hydrometer. I figure it's made me more paranoid than I was when I was using my turkey baster, so I'm probably safer than I was before. It's a decent product, but if you were doing smaller batches, I wouldn't recommend it, as it can be harder to fill with less than 5 gallons of beer.

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I'm also putting the samples back. I would definitely classify myself as a little OCD/overboard when it comes to sanitization, but it gives me that peace of mind since I don't want to waste any of my product.

$3.99, Northern Brewer

Duuuude, you're doing it wrong

When I take hydrometer samples, there is probably in the neighborhood of 2-3oz of beer per test. I drink that. So far, there is a few drops of beer wasted, at best, during each operation since not all drips and drops make it into the glass that I drink.

4 hydrometer tests is a lot for me too. I'll take a gravity reading pre-boil (AG), post-boil, and at kegging/bottling. I've only done multiple tests at the end of fermentation, for beer at least, if I suspect the beer isn't as done as it should be at the end of 3+ weeks of fermentation.

half a gallon!
its been said, but I'll reiterate, thats too much.

2 to 3 oz per reading, at 3 to 4 readings is no more than 12 oz.

masonsjax said:

From what I've read, a refractometer is only accurate for pre-fermentation readings and that once alcohol is involved, it's much less reliable.

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Yep. The refractometer is still a good gauge of whether gravity is falling or stable, though.

Use the refractometer for your OG, and for your periodic readings during fermentation. Once you get a stable reading 3 days in a row, then you take your 1 and only hydrometer reading to get the FG.

Also, on the "3 days in a row": don't bother checking on day 2. Measure on day 1 and 3. If they're the same, you're good to go--it's not like the gravity spiked up or down and then returned to the original level!

I found this posted in another thread by Kilted Brewer:
http://morebeer.com/learn_vids/vids_refract

Someone mentioned the Fermtech Thief. +1 to that. I've been using that now with my last batch and it's GENIUS.

http://www.midwestsupplies.com/fermtech-wine-thief.html

You sanitize it and the hydrometer, then dip the Thief into your fermenter. It fills up naturally (enough for a reading), then you remove it (or hold it there). You drop the hydrometer into it, spinning it as usual to dislodge any air bubbles. When you get the reading, you simply press the bottom tip against the fermenter and it slowly/gently runs the sample back down the side and into the rest of the brew. You can sample a taste if you'd like, or not sample any. It's like they combined their springless bottle filler with their auto-siphon and...voila!! So smart and easy.

I don't know what you are using to sample. My hydrometer tube takes less than 4 oz. Even if I did 4 samples, that is still only a pint. Typically, I take the first sample after adding the yeast. That sample sits next to the fermenter and gives me continuous updates. When it has been stable for 3-4 days, I draw a new sample. If the new sample is higher, I let it sit.

I test pre fermentation and then before it goes into the keg which is usually at least 3 weeks later. I don't need to babysit the thing while it ferments.

I'll almost always put the samples back. I just make sure to sanitize the hydrometer and such really well; I haven't had any problems yet. I don't take many readings, anyway. One before I pitch the yeast, then one or two to make sure the fermentation is done. Sometimes one on bottling day just to be positive.