High Temperature Hydrometers

[hazaramj]

Howdy everyone,

I was wondering if anyone has ever come across a hydrometer more suited for use at mashing temperature? (150oF range)

I one I have (and all of them I have seen) are calibrated for 60oF, and I just think it is such a pain to have to cool my wort samples down to temp to get a accurate reading.

I think one made for these temperatures would be the best thing.

Cheers,
Matthew

 

[bertmurphy]

There are a lot of charts and calculators on the web to account for this. Do your gravity reading and then measure the temperature of the wort that you used to take the gravity reading. Plug it in to one of the calculators/graphs and voila.

ex:
http://www.brewheads.com/gravcorrect.php - calculator
http://www.howtobrew.com/appendices/appendixA.html - chart

 

[JuanMoore]

I haven't seen one, but an easier solution might be a refractometer. Cooling a drop or two of wort only takes a few seconds. They can be found pretty cheap on e-bay.

There are a lot of charts and calculators on the web to account for this. Do your gravity reading and then measure the temperature of the wort that you used to take the gravity reading. Plug it in to one of the calculators/graphs and voila.

I think he's aware of the correction charts. The problem is that the further you get from the calibration temp the less accurate the correction is. In order to get a reading that's even remotely accurate, most people reccomend getting the wort below 90F. There's a good reason the chart you linked doesn't go as high as sparge temps.

 

[jkarp]

There are a lot of charts and calculators on the web to account for this. Do your gravity reading and then measure the temperature of the wort that you used to take the gravity reading. Plug it in to one of the calculators/graphs and voila.

Adjusting hydrometer readings for temp only works for ranges relatively close to the calibration value of the hydrometer. Trying to correct for mash / boil temps will result in wildly inaccurate readings.

With $20 refractometers everywhere nowadays, no reason not to pick one up for hot-side gravity readings.

 

[hazaramj]

I didnt realize the refractometers could be that cheap, then again in canada everything is more expensive then in the states.

 

[iijakii]

What cheap ATC refractometers do people suggest?

 

[JuanMoore]

I don't have one (yet), but I've seen this model reccomended here-

http://cgi.ebay.com/0-32-Brix-Wort-SG-Refractometer-Sugar-Wine-Beer-Fruit-/190480928954?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2c598c50ba

There are several sellers on e-bay that sell the same model, and prices seem to range between $30-$45 shipped.