Gravity reading help
- Thread starter DrWizzard
- Start date
Help Support Homebrew Talk:
That line is kinda fat... But each one of those "tick marks" is .002, and since your line is right smack in the middle, I'd say it's 1.005 -- 1.020 is definitely wrong, 1.002 is slightly wrong.
Yes, 3 digits.
1.004 (edit - that's if you meant the upper tick mark; 1.006 if you meant the lower tick mark; and 1.005 if you meant in between those two tick marks)
The line under 1.000 (the one that goes all the way across) is 1.000; the next full line (first one in the yellow section) is 1.010. And like he said, each tick mark in between is 0.002.
The line under 1.000 (the one that goes all the way across) is 1.000; the next full line (first one in the yellow section) is 1.010. And like he said, each tick mark in between is 0.002.
bernardsmith
Well-Known Member
Yes, as everyone is implying but not really being clearly explicit, specific gravity is the density of a liquid measured against the density of pure water which is 1.000 - so ALWAYS 1 with 3 numbers AFTER the decimal point. A gravity of 1.02 Is in fact 1.020 and never 1.002 and a gravity of 1.06 is always 1.060 and never 1.006. A gravity of 1.04 has almost one pound of sugar in every gallon, whereas a gravity of 1.004 has just over an ounce of sugar in the same volume.
bernardsmith
Well-Known Member
You may want to wait a week or two and check that the gravity is rock stable. Water has a gravity of 1.000 and so water WITH alcohol should always be BELOW1.000 as alcohol is less dense than water and fruit does not typically have any unfermentable sugars (unlike grains in beer). If your gravity is ABOVE 1.000, there are still fermentable sugars and unless you added more sugar than your yeast can tolerate (alcohol is toxic for yeast), then it SHOULD be able to take the gravity down below 1.000 to perhaps 0.998 or 0.996 , and so if it is even slightly ABOVE 1.000 it could still ferment inside your bottles, causing an eruption of wine (best case) or bottle bombs (worst case). My suggestion would be to chemically stabilize your wine before bottling by adding K-meta AND K-sorbate to inhibit the yeast from further fermentation.
The yellow arrow overlaying the red line is at SG 1.005. The green arrow is at 1.020.
Brew on
Brew on
DuncB
Well-Known Member
Just to add, the reading on the hydrometer is specific for a temperature that the hydrometer was calibrated at.
You should correct using a calculator if the liquid temperature varies from the design temp of your hydrometer.
You should correct using a calculator if the liquid temperature varies from the design temp of your hydrometer.
The green section of that picture covers that
DuncB
Well-Known Member
Was viewing on my phone so all a bit small to see on the train.
