question about hydrometer readings

this doesnt really affect my brewing at all, but out of curiosity, would a gravity of say 1.045 mean that that wort is 4.5% more dense than water?

 

The #'s to the right of the decimal point show how much heavier the wort is,compared to water,which @ 60F,is 1.000.

 

Yes it would be 4.5% more dense than water. The hydrometer measures specific gravity, which is a ratio of the density of a substance (wort) to the density of distilled water. Tap water however contains other substances (like calcium etc) that make it more dense than distilled water

 

Idk,...I got mine to zero out on tap water.

 

obviously everyone tap water is different, so it is easier to say that they read 1.000 on distilled. Some taps waters may do the same thing but Union, if you havn't already I would test it on distilled if you ever feel like it.

Personally, I don't care if mine is off a bit. It is the difference I care about so it will not effect my ABV calculations

 

I'll have to try that one the next time I pick up a gallon of distilled to make more star-san solution. It's worth a look. But,it's always been said as "water @ 60F",never said what kind. But worth a shot in the interest of science...