Do I really NEED a hydrometer for Extract Kits?

I've made two extract kit recipes without a hydrometer, and I'm not being at all stupid or cheap. I'm aware that a hydrometer would help me if I had doubts that the brew was fermenting, but I've had lovely bubbling at the appropriate times on these batches. I'd certainly have one very soon if I had any doubts about the beer stalling. I don't really care about what the alcohol content is when it's all done, I've only ever drunk beer because I love the taste of it.

The one thing I wonder about is with my first brew I didn't really pay close attention to the amount of beer in the fermenter when I was pitching my yeast and when I bottled it all, I wound up with less than 4 gallons and it's "thicker" in the bottle than it should be. Is that my main reason to use one, to verify that the beginning gravity is correct for this brew, and then I can use that to verify the alcohol content later if I even want to? Or could I have just payed closer attention and put it spot on 5 gallons with my preboiled cool water?

Cascadie

 

Yes, otherwise we'll have yet another "should I bottle yet?" thread...

It's a handy tool that lets you know what's happening in your brew. Get it, learn it, love it.

 

Or another HEY...Why Did My bottles Blow Up....

but the serious answer...YES.

I jest...Really If you're just a novice brewer...GET A HYDROMETER!

 

and regardless of volume, which too much emphasis gets put on it, it will let you know how the ferment is going. Is the ferment stuck? or is it done? The hydrometer knows. Yes, you can use it to calculate ABV using the OG and FG readings, but I also think too much attention is payed to that rather than just making good beer.

 

And bubbles or lack thereof in the airlock doesn't always tell you what's going on. You can have bubbles when nothing no fermentation is going on, and you can have no bubbles when there is still something happening.

 

I found the hydrometer to be the best tool for understanding the whole process. Losing it would be like losing a limb. Think of it like this: a picture is worth a thousand words.

 

Do you absolutely need a hydrometer? No

Is having a hydrometer a good idea? Absolutely.
Telling you why having a hydrometer is a good idea would just be echoing everyone else here, but it will give you a better idea as to what is going on with your beer and will also help you with consistency.

 

I don't agree. A hydrometer is one of those things you feel like you do not need, until you need it. Then, there is not a damn thing you can do without it. I've brewed extract beers that went into kegs, and I never even thought about pulling out the hydrometer, but I was always glad to have it if something didn't look right.

It's like saying you don't need headlights on your car because you only drive during the day or on lighted streets. Then, the lights go out one night, and you're screwed.

Spend a few bucks and get the frappin' hydrometer. Nobody says you need to use it at every step (unless you really want to understand what is going on), but have it for that time you really will need it.


TL

 

Guess we're going to have to disagree on this one. By need I am assuming the question means is it possible to brew beer without one. Seeing as people have been brewing beer for far longer than hydrometers have been around, I'm going to say it isn't absolutely needed.

Now, if someone was to ask me if they should get one, I would tell them to get one, it's a really good idea.

 

You figure out the time to bottle by making sure the gravity reading doesn't change after a couple days, at least. For this, you need a hydrometer. Without one, you're flying blind and risking the addition of too much sugar for carbonation which would explode your bottles. Consider the initial $6.00 investment in a hydrometer an insurance for hours of your time well spent.

Using the airlock as a bubble counter is insufficient for good brewing practices.

 

You need the hydrometer. It gives you something to drop and break just before you are going to use it. True..sad..story. Beer turned out pretty good though.

 

+10000 Buy 3 hydrometers while your at it

See this thread: http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/how-common-broken-hydrometer-83105/

 

Funny thing about that thread...it's proof that people...even me...don't read posts. He was asking if his hydrometer was "Broken" as in not reading properly...not broken as in shattered.
If you read the OP it's pretty clear...but we hijacked it from Post #1 and turned it into a thread of war stories of broken glass.

 

Hydrometers are necessary at all levels of brewing, beginner to expert. You don't see a doctor without a stethoscope do you? Really should have one to monitor the activity of your fermentation. It's also required to figure out the ABV of your brew. Just because you're doing an extract kit doesn't mean you don't need one. What if you use too much water and your OG is lower than it should be. You'd never know what went wrong and why the beer turned out not nearly as good as it could have. If you're taking hydrometer readings it also gives you a good excuse to sample the brew Thats my favorite part!!

 

No you don't need one.

but PLEASE do not post a "Is it done yet" question.


I'd get one.

 

Ive got one, used it on only a couple of brews, didn't tell me anything i didn't know already. Experience, and i have very little can tell you when to bottle or move to secondary; but if your looking for things like gravity levels and alchohal content it is neccessary, but for basic extract brewing from kits i dont use it.

 

If you're serious enough about beer to undertake brewing your own, the few dollars you spend on a hydrometer is a great investment. You don't need one, but when things go bad you'll have one less clue as to what's gone wrong in the process.

 

Yes, they should get one.

Yes, it is possible to brew without one, and beer was brewed from before civilization to the mid-18th century without one. But after it - and the thermometer - was introduced, brewers suddenly discovered they had an instrument that permitted them to make their beer more consistently excellent than before. That's the point - the instruments are the only things that permit you to make excellent beer, time after time, regardless of what recipe you follow. Otherwise you're guessing.

Why on earth would you begrudge less than ten dollars on an instrument that is so helpful? You'll pay 150% of that for a tin of extract, the same price for a vial of yeast, but you'll deny yourself the instrument to gauge how that yeast is working?

Never in all my puff have I heard something so asinine. It's like a carpenter refusing to use a t-square because he thinks there's some ancient "art" in eyeballing right angles. Then he's surprised - and comes and bugs us - when his house falls over.

Real brewers buy and learn how to properly use the instrument that's, well, instrumental to their craft.

Bob

 

I havn't used a hydrometer for my last few brews. But if I never used one when I started, I would have made all kinds of silly mistakes on my first few brews. Use one.

 

After only 3 weeks or so here I've learned the top ten basic do's and don'ts of home brewing.

10. Patience.

9. Never trust airlock bubbles. Always use a hydrometer.

8. Patience.

7. RDWHAHB.

6. Patience.

5. Sanitize everything.

4. Patience.

3. Did you buy that hydrometer yet?

2. Patience.

1. Never expect Laughing Gnome to pass up an opportunity to capitalize on innuendo.

 

Thats deep

 

Or don't post a "my fermentation's stuck because the airlock isn't bubbling" thread either.

Read this....http://blogs.homebrewtalk.com/Revvy/Think_evaluation_before_action/

 

My reaction to your question is right along the same lines as that of Bob- it seems rather backward to question the necessity of the most valuable instrument of any brewer, either home or commercial- the almight hydrometer. A precise scientific instrument for less than $10 is quite possibly the cheapest insurance available against all kinds of fermentation-related woes.

 

I don't think one needs one for extract. You can just use math to get your OG, and time will tell you when to bottle. Unless your goal is to turn beers around as fast as possible to win the fastest-beer-in-the-World fest that's popular around here then following the 1-2-3 method works fine. Even doing AG I only use one to get my pre-boil gravity and to check my run-off gravity. That's it. I don't sample during fermentation, I can pretty much tell when fermentation has slowed and I don't skip secondary so by the time I bottle the beer is done. After I'm done bottling I check the FG but that's just for records.

That being said it is a good idea to have a hydro but it's not necessary IMO. (Just don't ask "is my beer done" questions.)

YMMV

 

i used to say no, because i wasn't into recording every single measure of the beer, from temps all the way to gravity throughout the entire process. but it's good to know where you started, and where you want to head, and where you actually are. the only way to know this is to measure you gravity.

take two gravity readings. one after the boil, and one several weeks later to see what the yeast has done.

 

And then you subtract the second reading from the first and multiply it by 131 to know the alcohol content of the beer.

(no one's mentioned that aspect yet.)

 

Determination of need.
1) Do you need to know your beer is finished?
2) Do you need to have a consistent product?
3) Do you need to learn and enjoy other aspects of this hobby?
4) Do you need to know, understand and converse in the language of other brewers?
5) Do you need assurance that you will not have broken bottles?
6) Do you need to have a frame of reference for future brews?

BTW: There was a point in my brewing career where the answer to all if these was NO. I made what I made and I just didn't care.

Obviously my answer for ME right now is YES.

 

Well, I very much appreciate the responses. My hunch was there were probably some of you guys that don't really much use a hydrometer very often but you have one on hand as a gauge perhaps when testing new brews or something.

As a new brewer I'll be asking a lot of asinine questions (my apologies in advance, BobNQ3X... please disregard them) in the coming weeks, and I truly do appreciate the forum! I'm probably years ahead in my learning curve!

Part of my question was, could I have made my first attempt a better brew with a hydrometer? I used the John Palmer webbook and I don't recall that he gave a starting gravity (rereading it, I see that there's no hydrometer listed and he even says the thermometer is optional!) so I guess I don't even have a starting point. Not to belabor the point, but would I be shooting for a starting gravity for that style of beer in this case? To save you the trouble of looking back, my five gallon batch came up a gallon short at bottling time and the beer seems 'thick' to me.

Cascadie

 

I'll be honest, I don't unpack the hydrometer for extract brews. I do however make sure other things are under control. I make sure my fermentation temps are proper, I make sure I have viable yeast and a good fermentation. I also wait 2-3 weeks before racking to a secondary, or at least 3-4 weeks if going straight from primary to a keg. I might grab a reading at racking since I can grab a sample without an extra chance of contamination.

I wouldn't suggest starting out with this laid back attitude. However, when you've done a few extract brews, you get a feel for how things go. Essentially, I just give a brew all the time it should need to ferment before even looking at it funny.

Even though I've done a few AG batches, the lack of worry with the extracts makes them my preference. With such vendors as AHS making awesome kits, extract isn't as limiting as one might think.

 

You defiantly need a hydrometer...it will tell you when your brew is done..and everbody wants to know that

 

There are a lot of tools you can get along without and a hydrometer certainly is one of them--but it is cheap and very useful. If you enjoy brewing you will get one soon.

 

Can a pilot fly without a compass or altimeter? Sure...it can be done but probably shouldn't. What's the point?

Get a hydrometer and use it and be happy with the excellent beer you are making.



-Tripod

 

I think there should be a rule. If you don't use a hydrometer, you can never ask a question about your beer being done or your fermentation being stuck.

 

What's your point? Tell me I'm wrong! Give me a reason I'm wrong. That's all I'm asking.

Bob

 

Cascadie,

I'm not going to disregard your questions! There are only a couple of stupid questions, and I'll even answer those!

Answering a question is much simpler if the questioner has already done work to answer his own question, whether that's using an instrument to gauge a process or simply using the "Search" button. It's easier to answer the question if you list all of the data you've accumulated thus far when posing it, you see? Otherwise I have to ask you a bunch of questions of my own like a prosecutor interrogating a witness. And I'm no Sam Waterston.

Again, no, you don't need a hydrometer when brewing from extract. You should have one nonetheless. It gives more data points for investigation should something go amiss.

You do and you don't. Using extract, OG can be calculated quite simply. Extract has known gravity contributions per pound per gallon (ppg). So if you know how much extract was used and how many gallons you started with, you can figure your OG within a couple of points. Software makes that easy.

Sure. Different styles have different OGs. Sometimes OG is part of the definition of the style/substyle, like between Ordinary Bitter and ESB.

Now there's the crucial element to this whole thread!

Problem: The beer seems thick.

Possible solutions: High FG, dextrinous extract, under-attenuation.

Without a hydrometer reading, you don't know your FG. Thus, a crucial datum is lost. Say, for example, you also don't know what type/brand of extract you used, or what type of yeast you pitched. Now we have basically no data to help you (those are the three biggest influencers of "thick" beer after the ferment appears to be finished).

In sum, I am glad to be of assistance. But I prefer to have at least some data from which to work. If one deliberately chooses to avoid collecting data, asking for help is a bit...I dunno...hubristic. It's basically saying, "I have no idea what's going on. Here; you figure it out for me, 'cos I can't be bothered to help myself." Not saying you're doing that, but it happens every day at HBT.

Add to that that I've had it up to here with "experienced brewers" still advising new brewers that they don't need a hydrometer, to watch the airlock, whatever. These people continue to promulgate the Prohibition Pilsner methodology. It's not "art".

I'll tell you something: I've trained myself in historical brewing. I have redacted recipes from as far back as the 14th century. I've also made detailed studies of historical brewing techniques and procedure. I can tell you from experience what mash liquor looks like when it's the right temperature for mashing. I can judge conversion by taste. I can judge mash pH by the feel of the grain in the mash. I can hit volumes without measuring anything. In other words, I've got a whole raft of experience in both the alchemical and scientific sides of brewing. Maybe this will come as a surprise to you, but: As fun as historical brewing is, as soon as I can I run back to my modern brewery, to using my modern instruments, because it makes the whole process so much simpler!

No hard feelings, okay?

Regards,

Bob

 

Here's another deep one:

Usually, the best shortcut in brewing is doing it properly.


TL

 

When you are starting out, on your first few batches I think everyone should use it...You should get to know how to read the meniscus, know how to correct for temp. Just like you should learn to sanitize properly, and should understand what's going on during fermentation (and like I said in the blog you prolly didn't read) know how to troubleshoot your beer...So you don't ask if your fermentation is stuck, or when to rack/bottle....

To me, it's part of the basic brewing PROCESS...after you get a handle on it, after you understand what's going on, THEN you can choose whether or not you NEED to use it. I think you will find that most of the brewers who tell you it isn't necessary or that we don't use it at least learned how to in the beginning, and can use it if we need to. But we often don't, because we have seen enough fermentations to know what is normal and what isn't.

That is a huge difference than a new brewer that is intimidated by it (like so many noobs who start these kinda thread usually are) or "lazy brewers," and experienced brewers who have their processes "pimped" pretty well.

I liken it to parallel parking...when I took driver's ed Well over 20 years ago my instructor did NOT teach that skill, because she said, "no one needed it anymore." Well I don't know what the suburban soccer mom was smoking, maybe she only went to malls, but the first time I drove to any major city, I sure as hell needed that skill.

Luckily my brother, or dad, made sure I knew how to do it.....The same with driving a stick...even though my last few cars were automatics, I know how to pop a clutch.

In other words, I may not NEED to parallel park or drive a stick everyday....but when I have to, I can.

I personally take a hydro reading before I pitch my yeast and when I bottle, then I know the ABV of the beer, and know that it is finished out...

To me doing that is like putting on a seatbelt, it is part of my process....It's your choice what you want to incoroporate in your process....But before you drop the skill out of your to brew list, you should at least know how to do it....

 

Wow. It is amazing how much post whoring can be gotten from such a "simple" question.

Duh, I confess. I use a hydrometer.

And my answer to the original question as stated is - no.

 

I made good extract beer for years without one. So it can be done.

 

Bob, absolutely - no hard feelings at all. I was a bit stung by having asked the most asinine question you'd heard in all your puff, but this...

... makes it clear to me why you might respond that way. That was never my intent, and I attempted to make that point by saying I wasn't being intentionally stupid. I think things through as far as my limited knowledge leads me and I ask here since I've read many very intelligent posts and you all seem to have a ton of practical experience!

Thanks very much, everyone for taking the time to post, I'd bet a lot of noobs are the richer for it.

(scurries off to study up on under-attenuation)
Cascadie