Broken Hydrometer

[mkukiela]

I brewed my second batch yesterday. An easier Holiday Ale from AHS and it went swimmingly well until the end. My wort had sufficiently cooled, I aerated into my fermentation bucket, and added my water to top it off. After stirring I returned to my sanitizer to find my hydrometer broken in half.
I live 25 miles away from the nearest brew store so I decided to just pitch my yeast cover it, add airlock and hope for the best.
Is there any other way to determine ABV without an OG at this point?
What should I have done in this instance without a hydrometer backup on hand?

 

[RM-MN]

I brewed my second batch yesterday. An easier Holiday Ale from AHS and it went swimmingly well until the end. My wort had sufficiently cooled, I aerated into my fermentation bucket, and added my water to top it off. After stirring I returned to my sanitizer to find my hydrometer broken in half.
I live 25 miles away from the nearest brew store so I decided to just pitch my yeast cover it, add airlock and hope for the best.
Is there any other way to determine ABV without an OG at this point?
What should I have done in this instance without a hydrometer backup on hand?

You're in luck today. Since you made the kit brew from AHS, you just go onto their website, find the kit you made, and read the info about the kit. If I got the right kit, your OG is 1.052. Since this kit is made from extract, the amount of sugars is a known quantity and as long as you have the correct amount of wort, you hit the OG listed.

When you do get a chance to pick up another hydrometer, buy 2 at once. Those of us who have bought 2 haven't broken one since.

 

[beerkench]

I broke my second hydrometer last week. Dropped it into its storage tube only to realize that the other end was open. Duh!