Having trouble getting an accurate hydrometer reading

I just bottled my second batch, and although I love the brewing experience so far, I'm finding gravity measurements a bit frustrating. Every time I've measured, it's been up to .10 off of what the recipe said it would be (on the high side), even when I've measured the ingredients precisely.

But I have zero confidence the reading I'm getting is accurate:

• The hydrometer thief has lots of sediment in it, because it has to fill from the bottom of the fermenter.
• The thief often has bubbles clinging to the walls and hydrometer, making reading difficult.
• The hydrometer is always leaning up against or touching the side of the chamber

Any tips on how to eliminate these factors to get a more accurate reading?

Spin the hydrometer and when it stops, take a quick reading. The spinning will dislodge the bubbles and will keep the sediment off. It will also stay off of the walls because the motion does not let it come to a rest against the sides.

As long as your total batch size is spot on, it should be pretty close. My reading is usually a little low because I compensate for loss from hydrometer theif, and evaporation thief by having a total batch size of just over 5 gallons.

I had trouble with the hydrometer sticking to the wall too, so I bought a cheap plastic test tube and I. Works great

onipar said:

I had trouble with the hydrometer sticking to the wall too, so I bought a cheap plastic test tube and I. Works great

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I had that issue too, then I realized my table wasn't level.

OP, you sure its up to .10 off? Not .010 off? That's a huge discrepancy. What's your post boil volume? I never accounted for boil off in my first few batches and my beers ended up about 2%-3% higher abv than expected.

I had the same problem using the wine thief. I started to use the plastic tube that the hydrometer came in and it is working much better. I set it on a flat surface and let it rest a bit. The hydrometer is less inclined to lean over with the tube steady.

When using the Wine thief you dont need to go to the bottom of the fermenter to fill it. Here's how you use it: Put the thief less then halfway into your beer and shake it up and down and it will fill up.

Might be a good idea to test it in tap water. You should get a reading of 1.000 at 60 degrees

Also, have you calibrated your hydrometer ins 60°F distilled water? They're not always dead on 1.000 like they should be. You then just take that amount it's off into consideration when reading.

*beat by gcdowd*

All good tips, guys... thanks! I'll definitely calibrate it, and try out the other tips.

And yes, it's definitely off by (up to) 0.10 - I wouldn't worry about .01, that's well within the margin of error for a beginner, I think.

It has to be .01. Unless you are only making HUGE barleywines, etc. Most beers I make start at 1.052-1.080, and I make many styles. In fact, the largest beer I ever made started at 1.1! Perhaps you are reading the hydrometer incorrectly?

also make sure the measured liquid is homogenized - not stratified

Ah, yes, I'm sorry... was off by a decimal point. Yes, I have ambiguity at hundredths of a gravity (.01), not tenths (.10).

Still, that's too much. I wouldn't worry if were just thousandths (.001) - that is below my margin of error.

Get a test tube. I now store my hydrometer in the test tube. When its time to test I just sanitize a measuring cup, grab a sample and pour it into the test tube with the hydrometer already in it. It makes it real easy to top off the tube and there is no overflow. they are easier to read with the liquid all the way to the top of the tube.

I see this is an older thread but I'm hoping that someone will still read this and possibly answer some questions. First, I have a triple scale hydrometer and every batch I have made thus far (3) always have the exact same readings which is right around 2-3% on the PAV side or 1.020 on the Specific Gravity side. Is this meter bad? I don't understand why it would read the same regardless of where I am at in the brewing process. My second question is what is the difference between the triple scale and the proof hydrometer? Is one easier to use than the other?

You're better off starting new threads than reviving nearly four year old ones. What's the temperature of the liquid when you take your readings? Have you tested it with water at 60F? If so, does it give you a 1.000 reading?

Agreed on both points with @eko. At the risk of offending, are you sure the hydrometer is floating--free both of the bottom of the test cylinder and not rubbing or stuck on the sides? One possibility I've read about is the little paper inside gets jarred and is no longer valid, which makes eko's suggestion of doing straight water even more important.

I like dropping my hydrometer straight into the bucket.

I had a friend show me that he zooms in to the floating hydrometer with his phone and then snaps a picture...it's way easier to see exactly where it's floating... at least fort me.

gcdowd said:

Might be a good idea to test it in tap water. You should get a reading of 1.000 at 60 degrees

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Not all hydrometers are calibrated at that temperature. Mine is calibrated at 68F, so check the manual the hydrometer came with.

Okay, so I brought the beer to 60 degrees and followed the suggestions. The Hydrometer comes with a plastic tube so that is what I used to test it. The beer crossed the meter at 1.010 and water crossed at 1.000. Does this mean the meter is calibrated correctly? If so, the beer would only be 3% ABV? That would be lower than the beer flavored water they serve in Utah. The extract kit was the True Brew Pilsner which I thought was similar to a Bud or Coors. Am I reading this right or did I screw it up somewhere during the process?

For one, disregard the PAV scale when making beer. We are concerned with the specific gravity scale. PAV is used more frequently by wine makers.

Second, what was the reading before you pitched the yeast? When it comes to measuring beer alcohol content, you need to have the reading before fermentation (OG - original gravity) as well as after (FG - final gravity). I just plug those numbers into an ABV calculator like this one: http://www.brewersfriend.com/abv-calculator/

Looking at your kit online, I see that OG is supposed to be 1.044. FG is supposed to be 1.012. That would yield ABV of around 4.2% per the calculator I linked. Assuming you had the same OG as the kit specified (if you followed directions, it should be pretty close), and a FG of 1.010, that would leave you with an ABV of 4.46%. I would venture to guess that you are just fine when it comes to ABV.

Okay its starting to make sense. I didn't do an initial test due to fears of contaminating the wort. I am getting ready to order another extract so I guess I should learn how to read instructions That calculator sure takes some of the guesswork out of it huh?

rowdyirish1 said:

Okay its starting to make sense. I didn't do an initial test due to fears of contaminating the wort. I am getting ready to order another extract so I guess I should learn how to read instructions That calculator sure takes some of the guesswork out of it huh?

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Your OG should have been 1.044 according to the kit instructions. If you followed the instructions correctly; didn't add anything extra; and hit the correct volumes then I would safely say that was about your correct original gravity.

OG: 1.044
FG: 1.010
ABV: 4.4%

Edit: ****! I missed that Matty already got that squared away