Floating the Hydrometer in the Fermenter

[Owly055]

With my soon to be started high gravity experimental "gin beer" (18% target using EC1118 champagne yeast after 2 week primary with US-05), I will be closely monitoring gravity for my invert sugar additions, keeping the gravity way down so that if and when things stall I don't end up with a heavy sweet beer.

My plan is to leave the hydrometer floating in my glass jug fermenter. I know wine makers sometimes do this, but I'm concerned about accuracy, as I won't be able to knock the bubbles off. The plan is to introduce the hydrometer after the first two weeks of fermentation, after the malt has fermented out with US-05, and the yeas pretty much flocculated, to avoid krausen sticking to the surface. Beyond that point, I will be adding only invert sugar syrup.

Anybody see any problems with this procedure?



H.W.

 

[owmatooth]

tie a little slip knot of fishing line around it and you will be able to jig it up and down to release the bubbles as well as retreive it when it's time to rack. (or do the fermenting in a wide mouth bubbler). I'd hate to see all the work lost due to shards of broken glass in the trub from a broken hydrometer. yeah, i've had that happen with a glass wine thief. what a bummer.

 

[Yooper]

Winemakers DON'T typically do that- for several reasons. One, the krausen can weigh it down, making it inaccurate. Or, with the krausen and things it's hard to see. Or it can touch the side of the vessel, making it inaccurate. Or, it could break. Also, many times winemakers stir their wine in primary, sometimes several times per day. So, no, most winemakers with any experience would not leave the hydrometer in there.

Even time you make an addition, you'll get some krausen and sediment and bubbles, making the reading inaccurate.

 

[IslandLizard]

How about one drop on the refractometer? Not sure if the corrected reading will be accurate at 18% ABV though, but you should be able to monitor gravity changes.

Or use the fishline method @owmatooth described each time you want to take a reading. You can flush the headspace with some CO2 afterward if you're worried about O2 exposure.

 

[Owly055]

Winemakers DON'T typically do that- for several reasons. One, the krausen can weigh it down, making it inaccurate. Or, with the krausen and things it's hard to see. Or it can touch the side of the vessel, making it inaccurate. Or, it could break. Also, many times winemakers stir their wine in primary, sometimes several times per day. So, no, most winemakers with any experience would not leave the hydrometer in there.

Even time you make an addition, you'll get some krausen and sediment and bubbles, making the reading inaccurate.

As I plan to keep the gravity down around 1.020 and under, using a champagne yeast, after initial fermentation with US-05, I have some doubts that I will have significant krausen...... I think I'll try it. The alternative is taking frequent hydrometer samples and returning them to the brew. It will be an interesting project / problem, as the brew will grow with each invert sugar syrup addition.

H.W.

 

[Owly055]

How about one drop on the refractometer? Not sure if the corrected reading will be accurate at 18% ABV though, but you should be able to monitor gravity changes.

Or use the fishline method @owmatooth described each time you want to take a reading. You can flush the headspace with some CO2 afterward if you're worried about O2 exposure.

My lid does not have a hole in it, nor will I be using a fermentation lock. I never do on these small brews. Like you, I'm dubious about refractometer corrections, particularly as this brew will grow in volume as I add syrup. My only access is a large screw on top.

H.W.

 

[IslandLizard]

My lid does not have a hole in it, nor will I be using a fermentation lock. I never do on these small brews. Like you, I'm dubious about refractometer corrections, particularly as this brew will grow in volume as I add syrup. My only access is a large screw on top.

H.W.

You mean a screw lid? You do have access. Take one drop out (a glass rod or pipette) before adding each new sugar syrup addition, and get a refractometer reading. Those are useful data points, you should be able to see some progression.

In this case the refractometer is much more useful here than a hydrometer, as the former is fairly sensitive to alcohol content while the latter isn't. The skew is your area of interest, since it's an indirect measure of alcohol.

I didn't mean leaving the hydrometer in the beer, just use the attached fish line for easy retrieval after each reading.

 

[Anon111]

With my soon to be started high gravity experimental "gin beer" (18% target using EC1118 champagne yeast after 2 week primary with US-05), I will be closely monitoring gravity for my invert sugar additions, keeping the gravity way down so that if and when things stall I don't end up with a heavy sweet beer.

My plan is to leave the hydrometer floating in my glass jug fermenter. I know wine makers sometimes do this, but I'm concerned about accuracy, as I won't be able to knock the bubbles off. The plan is to introduce the hydrometer after the first two weeks of fermentation, after the malt has fermented out with US-05, and the yeas pretty much flocculated, to avoid krausen sticking to the surface. Beyond that point, I will be adding only invert sugar syrup.

The idea is okay, the materials not so. Glass, Krausen, bubbles: not improving things. BUT I read somewhere about a floating Bluetooth device, is that what you're trying to do?

 

[Owly055]

You mean a screw lid? You do have access. Take one drop out (a glass rod or pipette) before adding each new sugar syrup addition, and get a refractometer reading. Those are useful data points, you should be able to see some progression.

In this case the refractometer is much more useful here than a hydrometer, as the former is fairly sensitive to alcohol content while the latter isn't. The skew is your area of interest, since it's an indirect measure of alcohol.

I didn't mean leaving the hydrometer in the beer, just use the attached fish line for easy retrieval after each reading.

I'm a bit confused by the refractometer correction.... I tried to unravel the theory once and my eyes glazed over ;-(. I'll have to delve into that a bit more. I use a refractometer for OG readings, but have never trusted them for readings later in the process. Refraction doesn't measure gravity as such, but then gravity is a composite of the weight of the water, the dissolved solids, and the alcohol, all of which have different gravities. The relationship is well known, so much so that hydrometers have a POT scale usually. I own one refractometer that also has POT scale, but obviously I can't subtract the POT at the end of fermentation from the POT at the beginning, and know my alcohol.
In any case I'm really interested mainly in monitoring the sugar content, keeping the gravity down, so as I approach max ABV, I don't end up with an ultra sweet product. The amount of invert I put in, and the total final volume, should give me an idea of my ABV. Perhaps the solution here is to use a two pronged strategy....... Use the refractometer throughout fermentation, and a hydrometer at the end. I can interpolate what my theoretical OG would have been from my actual OG and my sugar additions.... is interpolate the right word? The sugars will be 100%, so the conversion efficiency issue does not exist.
My base brew is bubbling away in my "fermentation chamber" (heavily insulated pump house that stays between 60 and 65F. I ran a low temp mash, pretty much all day, and gradually ramped the temp up at the end, so I should have a highly fermentable wort. I want this "ultra dry" if possible.

H.W.

 

[Owly055]

The idea is okay, the materials not so. Glass, Krausen, bubbles: not improving things. BUT I read somewhere about a floating Bluetooth device, is that what you're trying to do?

I'm trying to accomplish basically the same thing........without spending a pile of money on a "slant".... Oops, I meant a "tilt".

H.W.