hydrometer: how to siphon the beer and wasted beer

[hiphops]

2 questions relative to the hydrometer.

first: how do you get beer from a 5 gallon carboy into the hydrometer? i used a siphon and ended up spilling a lot of beer. i am wondering about using a meat baster? any thoughts on that?

second: i know that its only a small amount relative to a 5 gallon carboy filled with potential beer but i figured that the hydrometer wastes at least a half bottle of beer. i am wondering whether, after taking the hydrometer measurements, i can pour that beer back into the carboy so i don't have to waste it. obviously, i intend to keep the hydrometer sanitized. any thoughts/comments?

 

[Beezer94]

1. Yes the baster is a perfect choice, just sanitize it before using it.

2. Drink it. That way it's not wasted, but it is not worth risking contaminating a batch of beer by pouring it back in.

 

[ChillyP]

2 questions relative to the hydrometer.

first: how do you get beer from a 5 gallon carboy into the hydrometer? i used a siphon and ended up spilling a lot of beer. i am wondering about using a meat baster? any thoughts on that?

second: i know that its only a small amount relative to a 5 gallon carboy filled with potential beer but i figured that the hydrometer wastes at least a half bottle of beer. i am wondering whether, after taking the hydrometer measurements, i can pour that beer back into the carboy so i don't have to waste it. obviously, i intend to keep the hydrometer sanitized. any thoughts/comments?

1) You could buy a beer thief to take a sample.
2) It's not worth returning the sample. Just drink it after you're done using it for your hydrometer.

 

[Revvy]

This is what I use, and it works with both buckets and carboys

And

Here's what I do....

1) With a spray bottle filled with starsan I spray the lid of my bucket, or the mouth of the carboy, including the bung. Then I spray my turkey baster inside and out with sanitize (or dunking it in a container of sanitizer).

2) Open fermenter.

3) Draw Sample

4) fill sample jar (usualy 2-3 turky baster draws

5)Spray bung or lid with sanitizer again

6) Close lid or bung

6) take reading

It is less than 30 seconds from the time the lid is removed until it is closed again.

Probably less if you have help.

Now as to the amount of beer you pull, it's only a few ounces in the grand scheme of things, especially if you look at it as the sacrifice you make to insure you make great beer.

You drink it to gauge your progress. It is really risky to pour it back in.

You have to think of it this way, this isn't going to be the only batch of beer hopefully you ever brew. So over time the scant ounces you pull out to gauge and taste really don't mean anything.

 

[Hammy71]

+1 on the turkey baster. Easy to clean/sanitize and cheap. ++1 on drinking the sample. Will help you learn the brewing process by tasting at different times. Also, if your concerned about too much being wasted....cut back on the sampling and be patient.

 

[deflagratio]

When it comes to tasting I use a sanitized glass and pour a little bit of my sample into it and return the rest as I sanitized both the hydrometer and the test jar.

 

[jppostKW]

I have a fluid sample pump I got from work it uses a vacumn to pull the beer out and spent a good 30 minutes at the local science store finding the smallest glass cylinder I could that would work with the hydrometer.

 

[Bizoune]

I simply sanitize a lexan cup. Draw off a sample carefully after aeration and before putting in a carboy. This gives me my OG. When I'm gaging fermentation, I use a wine thief but a turkey baster was my MO for some time. I have no problem "wasting" a small quantity. The benefits of seeing where I'm going in terms of fermentation greatly out weighs the negative aspect of losing a little beer before bottling/kegging.

 

[SpanishCastleAle]

I make my batches such that I have about 1-2 quarts left in the kettle and use some of that for my original gravity sample (I also use some of this for the FFT). Then all of that leftover wort gets strained, saved, and frozen for yeast starters later (the yeast like some cold break anyway). This way I don't have to pull a sample from the fermenter at all.

In the rare case I do have to (and before I did the above), I just tip the carboy and pour into a mason jar. No tools required.

EDIT: and regarding the amount required; I still use the plastic tube the hydrometer came in and it only needs ~1/3 cup.

 

[hiphops]

is there any tool that you can just stick in the carboy and let it sit there during the whole fermentation process that will give you the gravity readings so that you don't have to siphon any beer out of the carboy to take measurements?

 

[Walker]

is there any tool that you can just stick in the carboy and let it sit there during the whole fermentation process that will give you the gravity readings so that you don't have to siphon any beer out of the carboy to take measurements?

search for "Beer Balls".

edit: sorry.... that should be 'BREW balls'.

 

[Pivovar_Koucky]

or you could leave a hydrometer it there, still have to open it up though

 

[hiphops]

interesting. how are these things? any good? i gotta say that i really hate using a hydrometer.

 

[Walker]

or you could leave a hydrometer it there, still have to open it up though

Been there.
Done that.
Doesn't work.

Crud gets stuck to it and you can't read it.

 

[Walker]

interesting. how are these things? any good? i gotta say that i really hate using a hydrometer.

Don't know. Never used them, just saw them talked about a couple of times on this forum.

I actually don't check gravity anymore execpt for OG to see how my mash efficiency was. After that I just let it ride and do what it wants to do.

 

[sinkaidas]

when siphoning a sample out of the carboy for a hydrometer reading, does it matter where the siphon begins? should it be drawing more towards the top of the beer, or the middle, does it matter?

 

[Revvy]

when siphoning a sample out of the carboy for a hydrometer reading, does it matter where the siphon begins? should it be drawing more towards the top of the beer, or the middle, does it matter?

If the beer's been fermenting, it shouldn't matter. Only in extract batches where water is topped off does that kind of striation appear. But once fermentation is going the it should have the same grav throughout.

 

[clowe]

I use a wine thief to pull a sample right after pitching the yeast. I put this in beer bottle and cover the top with a loose piece of aluminum. I then used this sample to test readings when ever I need too. I read this in a book somewhere, the sample will ferment at the same rate so the gravity should be the same. So far it's had the same FG as my beer does right before bottling.

 

[sinkaidas]

great, thanks for the info. going to take my first sample, after pitching the yeast, now

 

[blueballsbrewer]

first: how do you get beer from a 5 gallon carboy into the hydrometer?

Hmm...I don't think there is any tool that will help you get your beer into the hydrometer. I could be wrong...but normally the hydrometer goes into the beer....not the other way around. Glad I could help. :rockin:

 

[badbrew]

If you get a refractometer, you can get the starting gravity with an eye dropper squirt of beer. Then you can measure again toward the end and compare daily values to see if it changes. Once the gravity is constant, one check with the hydrometer is all that is needed. Half of one beer loss from the whole batch.

 

[ChillWill]

Hmm...I don't think there is any tool that will help you get your beer into the hydrometer. I could be wrong...but normally the hydrometer goes into the beer....not the other way around. Glad I could help. :rockin:

I take 50ml to work, filter it and test it in the lab with the density meter. Also glad I could help.

But seriously, I used to take a sample when I'm racking to measure, then drink it before I started working where I do.

 

[opengun]

I used a thief for the first time today found it to be very easy and I could return all the wort back to the carboy without spillage.

 

[SwampassJ]

I used a thief for the first time today found it to be very easy and I could return all the wort back to the carboy without spillage.

Drink the sample. It will give you a taste of what the beer taste likes in this phase of fermentation/development. Even if it's at FG after 2-3 weeks the flavor will change a lot between now and when it's been botled for 2-3 weeks.

 

[opengun]

Drink the sample. It will give you a taste of what the beer taste likes in this phase of fermentation/development. Even if it's at FG after 2-3 weeks the flavor will change a lot between now and when it's been botled for 2-3 weeks.

I'll be taking another reading in a couple of days (i'm close to FG), I'll take a drink then, don't want to waste too much.