does this mean broken hydrometer?

I finished up a batch yesterday and drew a sample before pitching the yeast. My hydrometer dropped to 1.030, but when I tapped it a few times it went to about 1.050, about what I was aiming for. The thing is though, if I manually pushed down on the top of the hydrometer or pulled it up a little out of the tube, it would just stop wherever i left it.

Is it broken?


Water temp was about 75 degrees. There were many hop particles in suspension. I wouldn't be too worried if it were an extract batch but this was the first all grain batch on a mash tun and I want to dial everything in.

Is there a hole in it or anything? Check that at the same time that you test it in water (preferably distilled). It should read 1.000 in there.

Sounds like it is just getting stuck on the edge of the tube. There's no way a hydrometer could just "sit" at whatever depth you last set it, regardless of the status of the wort.

As for the hop particles, they won't change your reading directly, but if there are too many they can stick to your hydrometer. Let the test jar sit for a while and everything will settle out.

MalFet's right

Get a larger tube/ jar from lhbs

I always give it a spin before taking a reading to make sure it's off the edge and has no air bubbles on it

Thanks - I'll get a wider tube. I just used water (not distilled) in my thief to take a measurement - spun it and tapped the tube a few times. It read about 1.000 but was a real p.i.t.a. just to get there. I'll just brew another batch later this week after getting a new test tube to start figuring my numbers. I appreciate the help guys.

Is the test tube too narrow? Like someone else said, give it a spin when you put it in the test tube.

M_C

Misplaced_Canuck said:

Is the test tube too narrow? Like someone else said, give it a spin when you put it in the test tube.

M_C

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