Help with hydrometer

[JeffoC6]

I purchased a hydrometer for my second brew, which I'm going to be starting tomorrow morning, and I'm thoroughly confused.

I tried to look on a few youtube videos as to what I'm supposed to do, but there's a bunch of conflicting information. I really need help guys.

My hydrometer, at the very bottom, says "Specific Gravity Temp 60 degrees," which I know means that it's calibrated for 60 degree temps.

I filled my sampler tube up with cold tap water and waited until it registered at 60 degrees. Then, I spun my hydrometer and took a reading...1.000. Right on the dot.

Please please please help me from this point on. I have no idea what to do, and really want to learn this process. Thank you guys!

 

[hnsfeigel]

Really, all you are going to do is just like you did with the water. You will just be doing it with your wort. Take a sample of the wort into your test cylinder, float the hydrometer and read the number. Viola, your SG reading on your wort.
What was the conflicting info you saw? That may help answer your question.

 

[JeffoC6]

There was a lot of talk about calibrating your hydrometer, then adjusting to the temp of the wort, then subtracting blah blah blah blah....

So tomorrow morning when I brew, my wort drops below 70, i take a sample, take my starting gravity (SG), write it down...and then what?

 

[BobC]

you need to take the temperature of you sample, no need to make sure it's at 60 degrees. Then take your hydrometer reading. Go to this website and enter the temp and hydrometer reading and it will give you a corrected hydrometer reading for temperature.

Hydrometer Temperature Adjustment Calculator | Brewer's Friend

 

[JeffoC6]

you need to take the temperature of you sample, no need to make sure it's at 60 degrees. Then take your hydrometer reading. Go to this website and enter the temp and hydrometer reading and it will give you a corrected hydrometer reading for temperature.

Hydrometer Temperature Adjustment Calculator | Brewer's Friend

Ok...So here's what I'm still confused with. The Brooklyn Brew Shop kits that I'm getting (brewed an English Brown Chestnut Ale last week and am brewing an IPA tomorrow) don't give me any hint about final gravity.

So tomorrow, I cool the wort below 70 degrees. I take my starting gravity...Then, I primary for 2 weeks or so and check again. What number am I trying to reach? Just a consistent number 3 days in a row?

This is really confusing

 

[BobC]

Ok...So here's what I'm still confused with. The Brooklyn Brew Shop kits that I'm getting (brewed an English Brown Chestnut Ale last week and am brewing an IPA tomorrow) don't give me any hint about final gravity.

So tomorrow, I cool the wort below 70 degrees. I take my starting gravity...Then, I primary for 2 weeks or so and check again. What number am I trying to reach? Just a consistent number 3 days in a row?

This is really confusing

I wouldn't worry about trying to reach a specific number since your just starting out. After a few brews and your comfortable with what your doing you can start on working to specific gravity. If I get 2 samples in a row with the same gravity then it's ready to be bottled/kegged.

 

[JeffoC6]

I wouldn't worry about trying to reach a specific number since your just starting out. After a few brews and your comfortable with what your doing you can start on working to specific gravity. If I get 2 samples in a row with the same gravity then it's ready to be bottled/kegged.

Ok...

So just so I can get my thoughts out there...

Tomorrow, I brew as instructed. I cool my wort to just under 70 degrees and take a sample and take a hydrometer reading. For arguments sake, it comes up at 1.012 (per the calculator you sent me)

I primary for 2 weeks.

After the full 2 weeks are up, I take a sample again, and my gravity is now at 1.008 (per the calculator you sent me)

The following day, it's at 1.008 again (per the calculator you sent me)

The following day, it's at 1.008 again (per the calculator you sent me)

At this time, I can bottle, correct? What would my ABV be in this situation?

Thank you for your help, Bob. I'm very new, inexperience, and a little buzzed, preparing for my brew-session tomorrow. Just want to make sure I'm doing everything absolutely right.

 

[DakotaSchmidty]

Ok...


Thank you for your help, Bob. I'm very new, inexperience, and a little buzzed, preparing for my brew-session tomorrow. Just want to make sure I'm doing everything absolutely right.

Jeffo,

Specific Gravity really should be near (or at) the bottom of the list of things to worry about on brew day. Specific gravity is used to figure the ABV of your beer. The important part is the change in specific gravity from brew day to bottle day. If your wort doesn't hit the OG suggested by the recipe maker it's not a guaranteed sign of a problem. There are so many factors that go into the SG of wort that it really isn't worth worrying about when you are just starting out.

That being said, since you already have the hydrometer, you might find that it is worth documenting OG and FG as part of the learning process to help out with formulating your own recipes.

When I started brewing I bought a hydrometer while my first batch was in the fermenter. When I brewed my second batch, I noticed that when I tested I was removing almost a full bottle of beer each time. Since I was only doing two gallon batches (Mr. Beer, about 24 bottles) I decided the trade-off wasn't worth it. I never used the hydrometer again untill I went to 5 gallon batches, wich was about 12 batches later. Not once did I regret not knowing the SG of my beer. It all tasted great!

 

[D0ug]

I don't know if this is what you're asking but you can use the hydrometer readings to get a rough idea of what you ABV is;
(OG-FG) X 131 = ABV

And like the others have said, when the reading is the same over the course of a few days it is safe to bottle.

As was also mentioned, you probably shouldn't worry about hitting any numbers too much though when your starting out, because there's enough to keep track of and ti's supposed to be fun.

calibrating your hydrometer is just checking to see what it reads at 60* in water, like you've done. There are charts you can use to to correct for the temperature of your beer if it is much over 60*

have fun

 

[Alucard1983]

This is all I do I put in the primary for 1.5 weeks then I transfer to secondary for 3.5 weeks and then bottle I hardly do hydrometer reading cause I run it for soo long in the secondary. If there are bubble around the edge of the beer I tend to see it as not done yet.