Preparing to Bottleing the first batch

When taking hydrometer readings and you are using a pail to ferment as opposed to a carboy, can you just drop the sanitized hydrometer into the pail to take a reading, or should you still take your readings in the case by siphoning some out?

It's a lot easier to hold your test tube up to eye level to get your reading than to squat down and try to eye it up in the fermenter. You'd also risk contaminating the whole batch if you're not really careful about sanitizing the hydro. Then again, it's probably easier to sanitize a glass hydro than whatever you're using to steal the sample. I've always used a sanitized turkey baster because I use carboys.

jowens said:

When taking hydrometer readings and you are using a pail to ferment as opposed to a carboy, can you just drop the sanitized hydrometer into the pail to take a reading, or should you still take your readings in the case by siphoning some out?

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Don't siphon. Get a wine thief. Best $8 you'll ever spend on HB equipment.

Bike N Brew said:

Don't siphon. Get a wine thief. Best $8 you'll ever spend on HB equipment.

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Actuallly planning on it, but after the expense of getting all the equipment + bottles and splurging on a bench capper, I'm feeling pretty tapped for spending more this month