best way to do hydrometer reading?

[ethangray19]

I never took a reading when brewing my first beer. It has been in the carboy fermenting for 6 days now and I have been reading that I should really take a gravity reading.

What is the best way to do it and not disturb, oxygenate, contaminate my beer?


Thanks in advance for any knowledge

 

[Blender]

You need to draw a sample from the carboy.There are various methods including a turkey baster, wine thief or a racking cane. You got to have these items sanitary. You then transfer the beer to the hydrometer tube, make your reading and drink the sample.

 

[Brewsmith]

Either with a wine theif or siphon out a little. If you are using a bucket, open up the lid and use a sanitized turkey baster to get a sample. If the bubbling has pretty much stopped, you're good to go.

When I use a bucket for my fermenter I pour out the first cup or so into a measuring cup and let the yeast settle out, then siphon into tthe secondary. After the yeast settles in the cup, I pour it into the hydrometer jar. When I use a carboy for a primary I either siphon a cup out for a reading, or siphon into the secondary and use the last little bit to take a reading.

 

[david_42]

All of my fermenters are buckets with spigots and that makes for ease of sampling. I normally just draw a sample into the tube, then pour it back & forth to remove the CO2. I'll let it sit until it reaches room temperature and the yeast has settled. One minus on my fermenters is the amount of yeast that ends up in the sample.

 

[Willsellout]

I use a wine theif, it's easy to use and easy to sanitize and I don't spill beer everywhere when using it. I take readings when I transfer to Primary, then to secondary and secondary to bottling bucket. It's easier this way. I normally keep my beer in primary for at least 7 days, then two weeks in secondary. I normally hold out a week before popping the first bottle open...I'm looking at another 3 weeks before my Irish red is ready. Last reading was 1.026 when I transferred into secondary. My OG was 1.054.


Dan

 

[Spyk'd]

When I actually take a hyro reading, it's from a carboy and I just use the large tube of my autosiphon as it has a one way valve in the bottom and I have a mark on the tube that I fill to for the right amount for my test cylinder.


After sanitizing of course...

:cross:

 

[the_bird]

Instead of a wine thief, I have a turkey baster that's never touched anything except beer, wort, and sanitizer. What I like about it is that it is also VERY useful for shooting sanitizer through hoses, racking canes, bottling wands, and the like. So, it helps me out in two areas of the brew process.

 

[wild]

What I like about it is that it is also VERY useful for shooting sanitizer through hoses, racking canes, bottling wands, and

cats, dog, neighbors...



Wild