Can't use my hydrometer... Uh-oh....

[Reddy]

I started a 3 gallon batch of honey-lemon hefe yesterday. Since I was putting lemon slices in it, for ease of cleaning I didn't used my 5 gallon glass carboy, I just used my 7 gallon plastic wine pail, even though it's only half full.

Here's the problem. My hydrometer barely was able to float to give me an OG, but once that honey is alcohol it'll hit bottom before I can get the FG.

I have only basic equipment here, anyone have a trick for how I can know it's done? Or should I just leave it for 3 or 4 weeks to be sure and then bottle?

 

[Jester369]

are you floating your hydro right in the carboy? most folks take a sample out and use the tube the hydro came in to get a reading.

 

[Bobby_M]

Get yourself a turkey baster or a theif to take a sample out. Get a $3 plastic test tube for the hydro to float in.

 

[Reddy]

are you floating your hydro right in the carboy? most folks take a sample out and use the tube the hydro came in to get a reading.

The tube the hydro came in!!! That's so simple, so obvious, that's genius!

Problem solved, thanks!

 

[malkore]

You can maybe have someone tip the bucket to 45 degrees, giving you a deep enough area to take FG readings.

or get a wine theif and a graduated cylinder for hydro samples.

 

[Reddy]

You can maybe have someone tip the bucket to 45 degrees, giving you a deep enough area to take FG readings.

I thought of that, but I'm going to go with robbing a little bit from the bucket and putting it in the tube for the hydro. That way I can drink it when I'm done...

 

[IrregularPulse]

just don't pour it back into the fermenter

 

[Bob]

I thought of that, but I'm going to go with robbing a little bit from the bucket and putting it in the tube for the hydro. That way I can drink it when I'm done...

The wise brewer always samples his beer over the course of fermentation, and takes careful notes as to what he experiences. This way, when he brews the recipe again, he can ensure the fermentation is proceeding according to plan. Moreover, he learns what off-flavors might taste like, and has time to deal with them before they develop.

Wort on the first day of fermentation kind of tastes like a sort-of-boozy Malta; in other words, it's yucky. But knowing what it tastes like is really, really important.

I check my gravities every day the beer is in the primary. It's worth it to ensure quality, and I calculate my recipes to overcome the loss of volume. Since I ferment in pails covered with Plexiglas sheets (or pails equipped with spigots like a bottling bucket), it's easy for me to get in there with a turkey baster. Those who ferment in carboys might have a different story, unless they're using a ported Better Bottle and can run a sample out of the port. Then I plot the gravity on a graph paper tablet per batch. The shape of the curve is a visual aid to determining the state of attenuation. Like this:

As you can see, Day 4 indicates the beer is done. Days 5 and 6 readings merely confirm that. Further, should the yeast have pooped out early, the graph would have shown me at a glance.

Anyway, you can complicate your life if you like. You don't have to do this 'cos I do; you should adopt procedures that you think make a difference in your beer.

Cheers,

Bob

 

[IrregularPulse]

Holy Crap Bob. Are you un-employed or in college? How do you have time to do all that? Nice work, wish I had the time for it.

 

[Bob]

Holy Crap Bob. Are you un-employed or in college? How do you have time to do all that? Nice work, wish I had the time for it.

Neither, fortunately. I am self-employed, but that means I have less time, not more!

It's not really that much more time. It takes, what, ten minutes to take a gravity sample. It takes less than three minutes to make an XY graph on a graph-paper notebook (available from the office big box stores), and thirty seconds to plot the gravity reading on the graph. Hell, it took me all of ten minutes to make that stupid graphic in Illustrator.

All part of keeping good records, me boy, and simpler than reading text notes of "Batch 30 (Easton Pale Ale) took seven days to attenuate to 1.010." and trying to figure out exactly what happened. Especially when a couple of homebrews have been consumed!

Seriously, this was the method I used when I brewed for a living, and it was a lifesaver.

Bob

 

[DJCalico]

you really take hydro readings every day... even during active fermentation? Or are those simply estimates based on the OG and FG and the time span in between?

I'd be a little freaked to take that many readings