Hydrometer Samples

[Rob2010SS]

Hey everyone. Those of you who pull hydrometer samples out of carboys, how many of you return the sample to the carboy afterwards?

I have a wine thief that I use to snag samples from carboys and it has the little pressure tip to drain the sample back in. However, I've never done this. I'm always paranoid that something unwanted is going to get in my beer, even though my cleaning and sanitizing practices, I feel, are very good. So, I've always just taken the sample and poured it into a glass and drank it. But now I have a beer where I want to preserve as much volume as I can due to significant blow off during fermentation.

So, after you pull a sample and spin your hydrometer in, do you return the sample to the carboy or do you dump it?

 

[IslandLizard]

Back in my early brewing days, long before I discovered HBT and didn't know much about brewing, I bought a wine thief to do just that, take a hydrometer sample inside the thief, and drizzle the beer back into the carboy. On my 3rd reading (gravity had dropped considerably by then) the hydrometer torpedoed down, hitting the bottom leaving a hundred little steel pellets (I thought they were lead, they're not) and small shards of glass inside the thief. I obviously dumped the sample.

I've been transferring samples to a hydrometer jar ever since and never returned the content.

If you keep very good sanitation, you could return it, as long as the thief can release its content under the beer surface to prevent splashing (oxidation). For small batches in the gallon range that could be beneficial, for larger ones, I'd drink the sample to get some feedback on the progress and flavor development, and put those in my notes. It's educational.

Now you've introduced some air into the headspace by sticking the thief in there, and removing with the sample. I would flush that headspace with CO2, if you have it available, after you're done.

 

[OG-wan Kenobi]

I dump it

 

[poley]

Definitely support tasting it for sensory analysis over returning the sample. Risk of contamination and oxidation outweigh the benefit of returning 200mL of beer to your carboy.

 

[AkTom]

I frequently pour back into the carboy. So far, so good.

 

[RM-MN]

I never return beer to the fermenter. I take very few hydrometer samples and I use the plastic tube the hydrometer came in as my sample vessel so there it very little beer removed from the fermenter. My normal routine is to take a sample after about 10 days, then perhaps another before I bottle the beer. I don't feel a need to take any more than that unless I have a stuck ferment.

 

[Rob2010SS]

So it sounds like everything else in this hobby - some do and some don't and depends on personal preference... Haha.

I never return beer to the fermenter. I take very few hydrometer samples and I use the plastic tube the hydrometer came in as my sample vessel so there it very little beer removed from the fermenter. My normal routine is to take a sample after about 10 days, then perhaps another before I bottle the beer. I don't feel a need to take any more than that unless I have a stuck ferment.

This is my current problem, I think. I have the tilt hydrometer in the carboy and it's stuck at 1.045 (Imperial Stout). I'm not sure how accurate it is because it was way off on OG when I first put it in (read 1.089 and OG was actually 1.110). This is why I want to take a sample of the beer, to cross check the tilt and see how accurate it is currently. I'm so low on volume though that every last drop counts and I want to keep volume as much as I can.

Thanks for the information.

 

[IslandLizard]

I'm so low on volume though that every last drop counts and I want to keep volume as much as I can.

Just keep good sanitation, you'll be OK. Wipe the mouth of the carboy as well as the inside of it with a squeezed out small Starsan soaked washcloth.
I'd definitely leave a little for a taste.

If you have a refractometer, this is the moment to get a reading on that too. Then it only takes one drop each time, from now on, to monitor your gravity progress. Also use a calculator to "calibrate/correlate" your refractometer reading to your hydrometer reading. You will need your OG for that.

 

[North_of_60]

I’ve poured it back in with no bad results. I use a bucket so now I sanitize my hydrometer and put it directly in the bucket and take my reading and remove it.

I only take two readings, I check the OG before I pitch the yeast and then check the FG two weeks later just before I transfer it to the keg.

 

[OG-wan Kenobi]

Just clean the snot out of everything twice then sanitize for 3x the recommended time you can return your sample this way worry free if every drop is crucial. Just know what you are doing be super clean and cautious about it. TILT Hydrometers seem really nice, I have never used one but I could see them giving you a bad reading easily if it gets thrown off calibration one reason I always use hydrometers they are always reliable, until they meet the floor.

 

[davidabcd]

I only ferment in the plastic primary and put they hydrometer straight in the fermenter for OG reading and then three weeks later do the same thing for FG. Obviously, it has to be deep enough but I only ever do five gallons.
Not textbook (only one FG reading) but I end up only opening the fermenter on bottling day.

I agree with the above that if amount is an issue, just sanitizing well and putting it back in.

 

[wepeeler]

Hopefully the amount you take to sample is minuscule compared to the overall amount you're fermenting. Great sanitation aside, I wouldn't feel comfortable returning the sample to the fermentation. I would however feel comfortable drinking it. For research, of course!

 

[Kickass]

I drink it. Then make one of two prayers to John Barleycorn: Dear St. Barleycorn, pretty, pretty please don't let this change; or dear St. Barleycorn, pretty, pretty, pretty please mature this into what my vision was.

 

[Coffeeturnal]

I used to return it... But then I got an infection from it. Clearly returning it works for other people, but I decided after that that it was too much of a risk for me.

So, I drink the sample now.

 

[Rob2010SS]

Hopefully the amount you take to sample is minuscule compared to the overall amount you're fermenting. Great sanitation aside, I wouldn't feel comfortable returning the sample to the fermentation. I would however feel comfortable drinking it. For research, of course!

That's my problem, I had 5.5 gallons in the fermenter and during fermentation, it spewed out around a gallon and a half of beer in the form of foam. (See the level of the beer in the before and after fermentation pics below, and actually, the after pic isn't even the final one. The level in the carboy is down to the top of the fermentation heater wrap in the pic.)

I'm low enough where I won't be filling the barrel 100% so I'm trying to preserve volume. Otherwise, normally, I would just drink the sample.

 

[wepeeler]

That's my problem, I had 5.5 gallons in the fermenter and during fermentation, it spewed out around a gallon and a half of beer in the form of foam. (See the level of the beer in the before and after fermentation pics below, and actually, the after pic isn't even the final one. The level in the carboy is down to the top of the fermentation heater wrap in the pic.)

I'm low enough where I won't be filling the barrel 100% so I'm trying to preserve volume. Otherwise, normally, I would just drink the sample.

View attachment 595271 View attachment 595272

Holy crap. You need to get yourself a bigger carboy! Seems to me like this was primary fermentation, right? Why not get yourself a 6 gallon bucket with a blowoff hose? I've fermented beers upwards of 1.090 and never had so much loss. Then transfer to a carboy for secondary/aging.

 

[Rob2010SS]

Holy crap. You need to get yourself a bigger carboy! Seems to me like this was primary fermentation, right? Why not get yourself a 6 gallon bucket with a blowoff hose? I've fermented beers upwards of 1.090 and never had so much loss. Then transfer to a carboy for secondary/aging.

Lol that's a 6 or 6.5 gallon carboy! I don't think they get any bigger. That's how much I've been filling them all the time and never lost that much. This yeast i used was absolutely nuts (WY1968).

 

[wepeeler]

Lol that's a 6 or 6.5 gallon carboy! I don't think they get any bigger. That's how much I've been filling them all the time and never lost that much. This yeast i used was absolutely nuts (WY1968).

Wow. Never thought it was such a violent fermenter. Nice floccer though. How did the beer turn out?

 

[Rob2010SS]

Wow. Never thought it was such a violent fermenter. Nice floccer though. How did the beer turn out?

It's still in the carboy. Haven't sampled yet. I'l probably sample later this week. Pre ferm sample was delicious. It was almost rich tasting, like a chocolate dessert. It had very minimal roast/coffee notes and a lot of chocolate, which is what i was going for.

 

[wepeeler]

It's still in the carboy. Haven't sampled yet. I'l probably sample later this week. Pre ferm sample was delicious. It was almost rich tasting, like a chocolate dessert. It had very minimal roast/coffee notes and a lot of chocolate, which is what i was going for.

Sounds like my kind of stout. My buddy who I brew with likes them more on the roasty/toasty side, but I prefer sweet/chocolate. You'll have to let me know how it turns out. Or DM the recipe

 

[Rob2010SS]

Sounds like my kind of stout. My buddy who I brew with likes them more on the roasty/toasty side, but I prefer sweet/chocolate. You'll have to let me know how it turns out. Or DM the recipe

Yeah definitely! I'll keep you posted, if it turns out good that is lol.

 

[Kealia]

What I used to do was:
- Sanitize everything that will touch the beer
- Pull sample and measure gravity in the hydrometer tube
- Remove hydrometer and cover tube with foil OR pour into a sanitized bottle with a napkin stuffed into the neck (think Molotov cocktail)
- Recheck that sample as often as you need to monitor progress

Multiple times over the years I would pull a new sample to make sure that it matched my satellite sample and it always did. I eventually stopped pulling the second sample and just relied on the satellite sample.

 

[Calder]

I tried returning it a couple of times, I thought the sample of 5 to 6 ozs was a waste, but decided it was just too much effort having to ensure everything was sanitized. And a couple of 6 ozs samples is only 1 bottle, and if you drink it, it doesn't go to waste.

I now drink it every time. I take just 2 samples for most beers; one when I rack after 2 weeks (yes I rack to secondary ... I do have my reasons), and then I take a sample as I transfer to the bottling bucket. I think drinking the sample tells you a lot about the beer that the gravity reading doesn't.

 

[Hwk-I-St8]

Once fermentation starts, I've rarely felt the need to take more than one sample. I had one porter that I racked to a keg as a secondary and the pressure kept climbing. I thought there had to be an infection. I took multiple samples to check and the gravity never changed. I never did figure out how the pressure kept climbing.

Other than that, I take one sample when I'm ready to keg. It's been where I expect it every time, so that's it. I then drink the sample because they're usually delicious.