Help with Hydrometer reading!!!!

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
SevenFields

SevenFields

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 31, 2009
Messages
745
Reaction score
13
Location
Topeka, KS
When I brewed my very 1st batch(nut brown ale) I did not have a hydrometer so I just left it in Primary for 3 weeks and bottled.
Now I have a hydrometer and wine theif and I brewed my 2nd batch last night, Hanks Hefe extract kit from Midwest.
After I put the 2 gallons of wort and 3 gallons of distilled water in Primary, I took a reading (before I pitched yeast).
My hydrometer has 3 charts on it. 1.potential alcohol by volume % 2. SP/GR
3.Balling. Now I assume I read the SP/GR chart when measuring? It read 80!! So after looking at the Table that came with my hydrometer, 80 reads as 1.80 which is way off from what my SG should be. The kit says the SG should be 1.049-1.053. Am I reading my Hydro wrong or doing something wrong???
 
1. Potential alcohol only is an approximation, and more useful in wine production. Since your beer wont hit 1.000, the whole scale is useless.

2. This sounds like the one you want. If it reports 80, it is most likely 1.080. You can test this by using cool tap water (most hydrometers that I've used are calibrated to 60F), and verifying that the instrument floats at the 1.000 level (or in your case, maybe 00?).

Since you did a partial boil in this last batch and mixed in water with your finished wort, you probably didn't mix it adequately. If you mix it thoroughly, very much so, you should be able to get an accurate measurement. Also, if the wort's temp is different from the hydrometer's calibration temp, you can adjust the measured value to the actual value...google hydrometer temperature calculator and you can get it deciphered.

In any case, if your gravity is still up at 1.080 after mixing (1.80 isn't really possible in this case), it'll just be a higher ABV beer. No worries. Just keep on keeping on and you'll have beer.

BTW, what ingredients/recipe/initial boil/final volume did you have?
 
nebben said:
1. Potential alcohol only is an approximation, and more useful in wine production. Since your beer wont hit 1.000, the whole scale is useless.

2. This sounds like the one you want. If it reports 80, it is most likely 1.080. You can test this by using cool tap water (most hydrometers that I've used are calibrated to 60F), and verifying that the instrument floats at the 1.000 level (or in your case, maybe 00?).

Since you did a partial boil in this last batch and mixed in water with your finished wort, you probably didn't mix it adequately. If you mix it thoroughly, very much so, you should be able to get an accurate measurement. Also, if the wort's temp is different from the hydrometer's calibration temp, you can adjust the measured value to the actual value...google hydrometer temperature calculator and you can get it deciphered.

In any case, if your gravity is still up at 1.080 after mixing (1.80 isn't really possible in this case), it'll just be a higher ABV beer. No worries. Just keep on keeping on and you'll have beer.

BTW, what ingredients/recipe/initial boil/final volume did you have?
Click to expand...

6 lb. Wheat liquid malt extract, 1 lb. of Light DME, 8 oz. Carapils specialty grains, 1 oz. Tettnang hops, Whitelabs WL300 yeast
Initial boil was 2 gallons and I add 3 more to primary to make 5.
Once I add the 3 remaining gallons to my wort, to make the five gallons, thats when I took my hydro reading. I never shook/mixed it until after I pitched my yeast. So maybe thats why I got the incorrect reading???
 

Similar threads

oyendrila gupta
Stalled fermentation
Replies
2
Views
187
Johnny2
J
Vladimir Kim
Low OG
Replies
6
Views
540
IslandLizard
IslandLizard
L
First time process - rate my plan
Replies
7
Views
423
Raptor99
Raptor99
L
First time Mead - how does it sound
Replies
1
Views
189
MightyMosin
MightyMosin
D
First beer brewing Issues
Replies
22
Views
750
mac_1103
mac_1103

Latest posts

Back
Top