Tough to get OG with all the foam!

[Pelican521]

Hi all, I have a tough time measuring my OG due to the fact I run my wort through a fine mesh SS strainer resulting in a 3-4 inch layer of foam.

Anyone have any tips or ideas to share on how to get an accurate OG?


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[ShineOn]

When I have a lot of foam in the pot after chilling I pull the sample with a turkey baster and add to the test tube slowly

 

[Smellyglove]

Yeah. Get a test tube.

 

[Pelican521]

I bought a thief a while back that fit my hydro but had a tough time reading it with it clinging to the sides and distorting the reading.

Is it easy to read in a test tube? I think they are a bit wider, correct?

 

[oldstyle69]

just wait. pull your sample and set it aside. check it i a couple hours...ive forgotten mine before and didnt check till the next day.

 

[jfk69]

Any reason you don't just drop your hydrometer into your kettle BEFORE you transfer it the fermenter? I do this on all my batches, and after chilling it down, before the transfer, there is no foam on top. Makes it easy to read and it's fast, no messing with a hydro sample bottle or anything.

 

[balrog]

I have the same foam issue. And because I only do partial boils (3-4G) I don't have the depth to measure in the kettle. I second the wine thief to graduated cylinder method, but I also can have the sticks-to-the-side-sometimes issue of using the hydrometer's packaging tube as a graduated cylinder.

I don't like hunching down to the floor to read from the hydrometer floating in the bucket anyway. Old knees. Old eyes. Someone needs to created the large print version of the hydrometer. And figure out why the stinking thing invariably rotates slowly around and stops *EXACTLY* with the part you read facing away from you! Get on that, people!

 

[KepowOb]

I have the same foam issue. And because I only do partial boils (3-4G) I don't have the depth to measure in the kettle. I second the wine thief to graduated cylinder method, but I also can have the sticks-to-the-side-sometimes issue of using the hydrometer's packaging tube as a graduated cylinder.

I don't like hunching down to the floor to read from the hydrometer floating in the bucket anyway. Old knees. Old eyes. Someone needs to created the large print version of the hydrometer. And figure out why the stinking thing invariably rotates slowly around and stops *EXACTLY* with the part you read facing away from you! Get on that, people!

Hahaha, I swear they are made to purposely stop turning right when you can't see what you are looking for.

As far as the foam goes, others have said it already, but I'll say it too... just wait a little while. The sample you pull won't be bad. I always end up with a bit of foam in my sample, maybe 1/4" or so. I just set it down and go about doing other stuff, then check back later and there is no foam at all.

 

[littletim]

This will get me run more firmly into beginnerville, or possibly kicked off this website for life...but it's Friday and I am feeling the effects of the first delicious stout I have yet to pour....So here goes:

Forget the hydrometer. Mine is still in that nice little sleeve. I keep meaning to bust it out, but it has yet to happen, since way back when I had most of the same issues you guys are having...(and now the cursed eyesight issue is upon me).

It's like when they ask what fuel economy my truck gets, I straighfacedly lie! Or maybe estimate is a better word. I say, "22 MPG". I feel good about it, and people have an answer they seem to need. I'm not going to sell the truck to get one that is better on fuel anyway, so who cares?

I leave my wort in the primary for 3 - 4 weeks. If it ain't done fermenting by then, it never will be. Then to the keg. I tell the guys the alcohol content is about 4.5 percent. I have no idea what it is, but if I drink 3 or 4, I feel about like I would with 3 or 4 commercial light beer on board.....happy. Everyone nods and feels good about it.

This strategy is full of holes, I realize, and would only work for about 1% of you brewers, I am sure. But if I can enrich or simplify one person's life in these complex times we live in......

Happy Friday to you all.

TB

 

[johngaltsmotor]

I have the same foam issue. And because I only do partial boils (3-4G) I don't have the depth to measure in the kettle. I second the wine thief to graduated cylinder method, but I also can have the sticks-to-the-side-sometimes issue of using the hydrometer's packaging tube as a graduated cylinder.

I don't like hunching down to the floor to read from the hydrometer floating in the bucket anyway. Old knees. Old eyes. Someone needs to created the large print version of the hydrometer. And figure out why the stinking thing invariably rotates slowly around and stops *EXACTLY* with the part you read facing away from you! Get on that, people!

Plus no matter where you put them into the mix, they seem to migrate towards the foam. Everytime I put one in a fermenter to check FG it mysteriously floats to that one little bit of krausen remaining. It's like a brewers Ouija board

 

[Smellyglove]

Any reason you don't just drop your hydrometer into your kettle BEFORE you transfer it the fermenter? I do this on all my batches, and after chilling it down, before the transfer, there is no foam on top. Makes it easy to read and it's fast, no messing with a hydro sample bottle or anything.

If pitch temp and the calibrated temp for your hydro isn't the same then you still need a sample glass, or you can calculate it, which isn't very precise. But if both temps correspond that's a great idea.