Broken Hydrometer Help

[ToledoBeer]

Yesterday I made a smoked beer for my summer barbecues. Everything went perfect and the smell was amazingly fantastic. However after I took the hydrometer reading I realized I had somehow broke the hydrometer in the tube and poured it back into the cooled wort. After realizing this I found some broken glass on my kitchen counter where the hydrometer had previously been sitting so it must have initially broke there. I found the weight of the hydrometer at the bottom of the wort when transferring to the primary.

The weight in the hydrometer appears to me made of steel (as it is magnetic) and the shot is encased in green wax so I'm not worried about any sort of metal exposure. I'm mostly worried that I may have missed some broken glass in the process.

So after a little experimenting a came up with a solution. When I rack the beer to the bottling bucket, I'm going to wrap two sanitized coffee filters with sanitized rubber bands around the bottom of the my racking cane. I was able to siphon water in my kitchen sink no problem so I think this should work. However, I'm worried that I'll filter out the yeast I need to bottle carbonate.

So my question is, should I add more yeast when bottling and if so how much? Any other advice is of course welcome.

Here's the recipe I was using in case anyone was curious:

6lbs Briess Cherrywood Smoke Malt
3lbs Wyermann Oak-Smoked Wheat Malt
2lbs Wyermann Carared

Mash for 60 min @ 152

1oz Northern Brewer @ 60 min
.25 oz Northern Brewer @ 45 min
.25 oz Northern Brewer @ 30 min
.5 oz Northern Brewer @ 5 min

Ferment with White Labs California V

 

[badbrew]

I would bet all of the glass will be buried in trub and won't siphon out even without that setup. I picture a big mess with the coffee filters, but let us know.

 

[phoenixs4r]

I would bet all of the glass will be buried in trub and won't siphon out even without that setup. I picture a big mess with the coffee filters, but let us know.

Winner

 

[ToledoBeer]

I would bet all of the glass will be buried in trub and won't siphon out even without that setup. I picture a big mess with the coffee filters, but let us know.

Yeah I kind of assumed it would too, but I really don't want to injure anyone with my beer, or any beer for that matter. Plus I think it'll be a good experiment.

 

[JeepDiver]

good luck in the hospital if you do manage to get glass in the beer. Not worth it IMHO.

 

[aubiecat]

I have to ask, why do you pour your hydrometer sample back into the wort?

 

[ToledoBeer]

I have to ask, why do you pour your hydrometer sample back into the wort?

So it can turn into beer.

 

[amandabab]

good luck in the hospital if you do manage to get glass in the beer. Not worth it IMHO.

I agree.

btw:
Lots of threads on broken hydrometers. What the heck do all you hydrometer breakers do?

I've never broken one.

 

[badbrew]

I agree.

btw:
Lots of threads on broken hydrometers. What the heck do all you hydrometer breakers do?

I've never broken one.

First time using it, and slid the thing into the tube slowly and "crack". Then put another in it's case and into storage, come back a month later to find it in pieces. They break very easily. Those of you that don't break them are probably very careful. I tend to be quick with things and I guess too aggressive as well.

 

[Bmorebrew]

I've never broken one.

Just you wait!

 

[SamHain]

I agree.

btw:
Lots of threads on broken hydrometers. What the heck do all you hydrometer breakers do?

I've never broken one.

Thats how we roll!

 

[zeg]

So it can turn into beer.

I'm with Papazian and many others on this issue: the additional 6 ounces of beer you get (if you have the same size hydrometer vessel as I do) is just not worth the various risks returning the sample entails. I also enjoy the excuse to sample the wort / beer at various stages, and it's been interesting to learn which beers taste good at which points in the process. I usually taste a bit of it when I take the sample, and then stick the rest in the fridge and try it again cold a few hours later.

I'd say yours is a pretty unlikely situation. I suspect your coffee filter method will work, and you could probably get by with somewhat coarser mesh bag. That might give you a better chance of keeping enough yeast around. However, might be a good idea to get some clean-fermenting yeast (Nottingham?) and add a small amount before bottling just to be sure you get carbonation.

 

[hxxbin]

Same issue, did your solution work? I need to bottle, and I don't know what to do.