How essential is a hydrometer?

So I decided to bite the bullet and give homebrewing a go. I ordered the Basic Brewing Equipment Kit (1 Stage) from AHS and a dry extract recipe kit. I've just noticed that the kit doesn't come with a hydrometer and I'm getting concerned that this might have been a major oversight on my part.

Am I setting myself up to fail without the hydrometer?

If so, why do AHS set a starter kit without one?

you don't need one for brewing, but it is nice to have one. put one on your christmass or birthday list.

it is a very useful tool, but you can make beer without it. it helps alot when you think your beer might not be fermenting. by using your hydrometer you can know for sure weather it is or isn't fermenting (airlock is not always an indicator). i would recomend having one (or two incase one breaks). they're real cheap.

OK, so it will be on my list but I'm no longer worrying that I will have to pay for another overseas shipment before I even start to brew!

yeah, if it costs too much to ship then i wouldn't worry about it. you can just toss one on with you're next order if you feel like you need one.

i'm guessing this is a first brew? extract? if so then you should be fine. you can pretty much rely on what the instructions say for expected original and final gravities

I would put it this way. If you had a child and they had a fever. Would you check their temperature with a thermometer or the back of your hand on their forehead. Hydrometer is piece of mind. I vote get one.

yes. dry extract, AHS Our Special Holiday Ale (21B). I thought by picking a special christmas brew I'm more likely to show willpower and not try to drink it too soon!!

My only concern (at least for now!!) now is the fermenting temperature as I live in the caribbean.

What with shipping from AHS, then overseas forwarding costs I'm looking at $30+ just for shipping so if I can wait until I order my next recipe and combine shipping I will. Then again, I didn't want to waste my first one!

Tiredboy said:

My only concern (at least for now!!) now is the fermenting temperature as I live in Jamaica.

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Sounds like you need a hydrometer AND a fermentation chamber!

just try to keep it as cool as you can. the yeast can survive pretty high temps (120? 140?) but they will start to produce off flavors much lower.

First brews, extracts, follow directions - hydro not necessary. More experience, bigger brews (complexity) have a hydro. Coopers (makebeer.net) sells a plastic hydro that sells for $10 + shipping. BTW, I've had a lot of experience with AHS and they've always been great....

If you arbitrarily move your beer, like to follow the silly 1-2-3 rule (or instructions that say move after a week or when bubbles slow down), you will often interrupt fermentation. Because sometimes the yeast won't even begin to ferment your beer until 72 hours after yeast pitch, so if you rush the beer off the yeast on day 7 then you are only allowing the yeast a few days to work. The problem is that yeast don't know how to read so they seldom follow the instructions. They dance to their own tune and its seldom 4 x 4 Time.

Airlock bubbling doesn't tell you anything, krausens can come or go and not tell you anything, so they're fautly ways of knowing what's going on.

The only way to truly know what is going on in your fermenter is with your hydrometer. Like I said here in my blog, which I encourage you to read, Think evaluation before action you sure as HELL wouldn't want a doctor to start cutting on you unless he used the proper diagnostic instuments like x-rays first, right? You wouldn't want him to just take a look in your eyes briefly and say "I'm cutting into your chest first thing in the morning." You would want them to use the right diagnostic tools before the slice and dice, right? You'd cry malpractice, I would hope, if they didn't say they were sending you for an MRI and other things before going in.


It's up to you, but I think it's one of the tools that sets you apart from making good beer, and making great beer.

Do some research here and you'll find some inventive ways of keeping your fermenters cool on the cheap.

It's like most things. Having the right tools for the job make life easier.

Revvy said:

If you arbitrarily move your beer, like to follow the silly 1-2-3 rule (or instructions that say move after a week or when bubbles slow down), you will often interrupt fermentation. Because sometimes the yeast won't even begin to ferment your beer until 72 hours after yeast pitch, so if you rush the beer off the yeast on day 7 then you are only allowing the yeast a few days to work. The problem is that yeast don't know how to read so they seldom follow the instructions. They dance to their own tune and its seldom 4 x 4 Time.

Airlock bubbling doesn't tell you anything, krausens can come or go and not tell you anything, so they're fautly ways of knowing what's going on.

The only way to truly know what is going on in your fermenter is with your hydrometer. Like I said here in my blog, which I encourage you to read, Think evaluation before action you sure as HELL wouldn't want a doctor to start cutting on you unless he used the proper diagnostic instuments like x-rays first, right? You wouldn't want him to just take a look in your eyes briefly and say "I'm cutting into your chest first thing in the morning." You would want them to use the right diagnostic tools before the slice and dice, right? You'd cry malpractice, I would hope, if they didn't say they were sending you for an MRI and other things before going in.


It's up to you, but I think it's one of the tools that sets you apart from making good beer, and making great beer.

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Maybe a touch melodramatic, don't ya think? It IS just beer, afterall....
LOL

StittsvilleJames said:

Maybe a touch melodramatic, don't ya think? It IS just beer, afterall....
LOL

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Maybe, but some people want to be the best in anything, mowing the lawn, cooking, brewing, and failure is not an option. I'm like that too.
if you are going to take the challenge, take all steps to be successful and more, be the best doing it.
Tiredboy, you need to make sure that your fermentation temps are kept under control and read a lot from this forum, it will give you so much knowledge before you start.

You will be fine for 1 brew without a hydrometer, especially with an extract kit. Give it enough time and the right conditions, and your yeast will do what it needs to. That said, how big is Kingston? Is tehre no other place you could find a hydrometer? Triple scale hydrometers are not only used in beer making, so they may be available to you without having to order from a stateside brewing supply website.

I found reference to someplace called Arnaboldi, Somalvico & Co., 2 Hatton
Garden [and] 66 King Street, Kingston, Jamaica, but I don't know how dated the information is. Seems they may manufacture hydrometers.

Thanks. Where did you get the information as King street is only a block from where I work but I'm having trouble finsding more information. I suspect the hydrometer will be a purchase when I'm next in the US.

StittsvilleJames said:

Maybe a touch melodramatic, don't ya think? It IS just beer, afterall....
LOL

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Absolutely being melodramatic. I never used a hydrometer until I started all grain brewing and didn't do anything to check gravity until my fifth beer when I got a refractometer. The guy that taught me how to brew hasn't used a hydrometer in years. Sure it's nice to know exactly what is going on with your beer, but if you are doing extract and are willing to let it sit for a while to ensure it's done, you can live without one.

I did a Google search, and the information was less than complete. The reference I found had no date or further information. For all I know, it could be some historical reference and the company could have been out of business for 100 years. I was trying to throw some ideas out there. I have to think there is some kinda of instrument-supply place in the area, but maybe not. I haven't actually been to Jamaica.

You can make beer without one, however, like Revvy said, the only way to tell for sure that fermentation is done is with a hydrometer. If you make sure to give your beer ample time to ferment, you'll probably be ok, but it'd definitely be the next thing I'd get if I were you.

If you bottle before fermentation is completely done (as kit instructions will often instruct you to do) you'll risk exploding bottles. And even if you give it 3 or 4 weeks in the fermenter to give it enough time, another concern would be a stuck fermentation (doesn't happen often, I've never had one myself, but it does happen), and it restarts with the yeast getting roused a bit during bottling, again leading to potential bottle bombs. The first problem is easily prevented with patience, the second you'd only be able to identify with a hydrometer. Either way, without a hydrometer you should definitely place your bottles somewhere safe in case they do blow.

And just search "swamp cooler" on here and you'll fine a host of information on how to keep your fermentation temps under control on the cheap.

whats a hydrometer? is that what measures how much salt is in the ocean?


jk