Broke 1st hydrometer :(

[EamusCatuli]

Last night while I was cleaning my bottling bucket and the supplies in it (bottle capper, spoon, siphon, HYDROMETER) for my Apfelwein, I was a little reckless i suppose and my hydro broke right in half It had lasted so long as my first and only hydro! I realized I had a bigger problem on my hands, however. I cleaned everything with water about 10-times over as best I could to try and decrease the risk of tiny microscopic glass shards in the bottling bucket. As far as my naked eye goes, it looked good and i proceeded to bottle. Do you think I should be worried about glass shards cutting my throat open when I drink these things????

What would you guys do?

 

[john from dc]

i bet you'll be fine. if it's too small to detect, it's probably too small to do any damage. and multiple cleanings mean it probably wasn't even there.

i'd get another tub for cleaning stuff out though, aside from debris you can scratch the bottling bucket when you're cleaning it. those litte scratches are club med for gunk that can build up and spoil your beer.

 

[ohiobrewtus]

If you gave it a good cleaning you'll proably be fine. I'd venture to say that this won't be your last broken hydrometer.

I swear that if I look at a hydrometer funny it snaps in half.

 

[EamusCatuli]

Yeah that prob. would not be a bad idea, never really thought about that...

 

[Jumbo82]

I also broke my first hydrometer last weekend. I used it in my wine theif before bottleing my apfelwein. Cleaned it and put it away. Then later I took it out to measure the O.G. on a batch of beer I made. It was broken in two pieces. I had always stored it in its original plastic case in my bottling bucket along with other things like my capper and whatnot, so I probably dropped something on it. When I get my next hydrometer I'm going to store it in a drawer instead. Lesson learned.

 

[Limited Visibility]

All good ideas, I have not broke anything from my kits yet, but I am sure something is coming to ruin my day.

 

[Kayos]

Refractometer on ebay 0-32% for $35 shipped. Just got mine and it is great to use a couple of drops of wort instead of a cup.

 

[BeanPot Brewery]

You may as well get used to it. I've broken more hydos than I can count - well into double digits at this point, whcih is both a testament to my own stupidity and the fact that hydrometers aren't exactly built tough

 

[hopsalot]

live and learn, I dropped a 6.5 gal carboy shattering it all over my feet, that really sucked

 

[SteveM]

I've never broken a hydrometer, mainly because I don't use one. I tried to for my first batch (about five years ago) but as a plastic brew tank user, I found it awkward to try to get accurate readings. I put it away and haven't bothered with it since. While it's essential for figuring out your ABV and handy for figuring out when your fermentation is done, for me at least it is not necessary for making a good beer. I don't care particularly about ABV and it's really pretty easy to tell when fermentation is done (especially if you are not in a hurry).

Mine may be around gathering dust somewhere. If you were in the Philly area I would be happy to give it to you for free.