How do YOU avoid hydrometer reading losses?

[Kralizec]

I was wondering if you guys lose a "lot" of beer to the reading of your hydrometer.

Every time I fill up the tube to put the hydrometer in its around 3-4oz. This is not acceptable especially since it seems like most of you recommend checking many times near the end of the fermentation before you rack to secondary.

What is the magic number of gravity readings? 2?

Just curious if any of you have ever put the beer back after reading SG. Like only having it in sanitized vessels and then not tasting it.
I know that doesn't sound too smart, but thats like a whole beer if you take 4 readings. Decreasing brew-house efficiency by a great another 2%.

 

[springer]

Never really lose it . You drink the sample correct? I let the beer sit 2 weeks before taking a reading. Than I will take it and 2-3 days later take another if its the same (within my expectation) I will go on to kegging

 

[Pappers_]

Unless there is a problem, I only measure gravity two or three times - into the fermenter, into the bright carboy (if I bright/secondary), and into the bottles.

And you can add the wort or beer back, if you've sanitized it well (tube and hydrometer), but I don't - I like to taste it. I make my recipes for 5.5 gallons, do when it's all done, I'm bottling 5 gallons or two cases. As always, your mileage may vary

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

I don't use a hydrometer.

 

[hamiltont]

I usually don't take that many readings anymore. I let the fermentation go at least 2 weeks and many times 3 weeks. Then I'll take 2 readings by just sanitizing the hydrometer and putting it right into the fermenter. 99.9% of the time they're done by that point. If not, I'll rouse the yeast (since the conical is open) and wait another week.

 

[springer]

I don't use a hydrometer.

Ya that helps the nOOb...

 

[wildwest450]

That's why I brew 6 gallon batches, 5.75 in the fermenter, I can sample, take readings, fill a squirt gun and still have enough left to fill a corny up

 

[MultumInParvo]

I just use a wine thief. I take a sample, then put it back in... About as easy as it can get.

 

[Coastarine]

I measure gravity twice. OG via refractometer, and FG via hydrometer. Multiple FG readings are for the person who isn't sure if their beer is done fermenting but wants to rack now, or maybe someone just trying to get to know the fermentation process better. My beer is never in a hurry so I don't take a gravity unless I know its done or want an excuse to taste it. For the beer that does get poured out from samples, I've gotten over it. I think kegging helps. I don't have that "one more bottle" that was almost full at the end. As long as the corny is mostly full, I don't need to know anything else.

 

[weirdboy]

For a typical brew I check the gravity 3 times:

1. Pre-boil refractometer reading in case I need to adjust something
2. OG reading going into primary
3. FG reading a couple of weeks later.

If I am racking to secondary for whatever reason like dry hopping or adding fruits, spices, etc., I will often take a sample at that point and check the gravity, but mostly I do that just to taste it.

 

[azscoob]

I can sample, take readings, fill a squirt gun and still have enough left to fill a corny up

Well said! have you ever not fill up that squirt gun and be just over the amount that fits in a corny? I just gave the floor a chocolate stout bath because I forgot to fill my supersoaker, I need to be punished for beer waste, where is Yoop with that whip?

 

[CharlosCarlies]

TBH, I've had a couple batches where I didn't take a single reading. I wouldn't recommend this, but other than testing for efficiency or making sure fermentation is finished, there really isn't a reason to be taking a ton of readings.

 

[david_42]

I pitch the yeast and then draw my sample. The sample sits next to the fermenter. Occasionally, I'll tip the tube back and forth to clear the krausen. If the sample gets stuck, I'll pull a fresh one to see if the main volume is also stuck. Otherwise, I just let it go for three weeks.

 

[iamjonsharp]

To avoid waste, I drink my samples! Yum!

 

[Yooper]

So, if you check your SG twice, that's about 8 ounces of beer. Plus, two samples to taste! So, you don't "lose" any beer at all, really. Even if you dumped out the sample, it's worth it just to prevent any potential bottle bombs. Losing 8 ounces of beer vs. 632 ounces left in the fermenter doesn't really seem like a signifcant amount to me.

 

[zanemoseley]

I have a wine thief but have started just putting the hydrometer in the brew pot after its been chilled before dumping into the fermenter then again before I rack to a keg. IMO sanitizing a smooth glass hydrometer is much easier than the theif as there are less surfaces to miss when cleaning/sanitizing.

 

[kanzimonson]

You've obviously just started brewing because when I started, I had the same thought - "oh god i'm losing an entire beer!!!!!!!!!!!" Then I stopped being so greedy. That's all it comes down to - take a reading when you need to and it's never wasted.

If you're not sure about the beer being finished, take a reading. If you feel the need to taste its progression, take a reading. If you've added some interesting flavor to the secondary (vanilla beans, etc) and want to see if it's enough, etc etc.

And if you're bottling beer, you always end up with one bottle at the end that's not completely full, and it's usually got some yeast gunk in it from the bottling process, so I just drink it on the spot.

Bottom line: all you need to do is brew more and you'll get over your greed. Bigger batches, more frequently, and lots of stuff in the pipeline.

 

[ChshreCat]

I never lose beer when I take samples. I know right where it is right up to when I drink it.

That couple swallows of beer is your beers thank you gift for caring enough about it to check it's gravity. It'd be impolite not to drink it.

 

[Kralizec]

I get a little anxious when I don't have any homebrew that is ready to drink, its all either bottle conditioning or in carboys waiting to be bottled. And I would rather wait to drink it so theres no way I can RDWHAHB.

I think this was more of what do you do, not what I have done. I started brewing and usually only took the OG, because I was able to be patient and wait for it to complete fermenting.

This question was based on last night when I took the FG readings of 2 different beers and they were within .001 (error) of what they should have been. But I still felt guilty, but mostly because one of them has around 4 gal after I racked to secondary.

 

[EvilGnome6]

I take a hydrometer reading once a week. When I get the same reading two weeks in a row, I call it done (unless it's still too high and then I'll call it stuck and take whatever measures need to be taken).

I also use a Fermtech wine thief for taking readings:

1) Sanitize the wine thief and hydrometer.
2) Stick the wine thief in the fermenter and drop the hyrdrometer inside it.
3) Shake the thief up and down several times and it will fill up (note the valve on the end).
4) Once it's filled up, you can spin the hydrometer, take the reading and pull it out.
5) Lift up the thief, touch the valve to the inside of the fermenter and let it drain out.

I lose less than an ounce of beer this way.

 

[lowlife]

I dont exactly care about a few ounces personally. It is a very small amount.

 

[Soulrebel]

If your brewing extract, be patient and you only need to take 2 readings. Once into the fermenter and once on its way out. The sample is never "wasted" its part of the process of making good beer. Good notes = good beer. And they taste sooo good.

 

[zanemoseley]

I bought the thief when I first started but now don't see the point. The only time its a hassle to check the gravity straight in the bucket is if there's anything floating on the top which isn't usually the case if the beer is even remotely close to being done.

 

[CharlosCarlies]

You could always just brew bigger batches.

 

[z987k]

Refractometer.

 

[Revvy]

I don't chalk up those two readings as a loss, as much as an early taste to check the progress. Plus it's a little sacrifice to the beer gods for a perfect fermentation.

I did just buy a refractometer which does cut down the amount I draw off to 1 hydro sample on bottling day. and one or two drops on brew day for the refractmometer.

But you don't need to constantly check the gravity....especially if you are like many of us who go for a 3-4 week primary with no secondary. In that case you really only need 2 readings....on brew day for OG, and on bottling day 1 month later for fg, in order to determine the ABV of the beer.

If you give stuff enough time it cuts down on the need to take excessive readings. Even if you secondary, if you wait 14 days before racking, you really don't need to take a reading then to see if fermentation has stopped, by then if it isn't it's pretty close.

The only other time you need to take one is if you are worried...if it's been 72 hours since yeast pitch and you don't see a krausen (not whether or not your stupid airlock is bubbling, that's NOT a good gauge) THEN you'd take a reading to make sure....but if you trust that your yeast know's what it needs to do, you don't even really need that...

Honestly I take a reading, pitch my yeast, and come back a month later, take a reading and bottle...that's it.

 

[malkore]

step 1: sanitize hydrometer
step 2: drop in bucket and take reading
step 3: profit

i don't generally fill the graduated cylinder for a reading unless I'm doing a 3 gallon batch, when my bucket's not deep enough to float the hydro.

but I did ask santa for a refractometer.

 

[remilard]

Honestly the best way is to buy a refractometer.

For OG readings, you can try to get the sample from tubing if you leave some there.

For FG readings, if you can be fairly precise you can dilute the sample. So for example, if you need 4 oz, take a one oz sample and dilute with 3 oz of water that measures 1.0000 (this almost certainly includes your tab water, but I'll cover myself just in case) and multiply the measured gravity points by four. This won't work as well as a refractometer unless you have a fairly accurate (lab grade) measuring container.

ETA, I would recommend a narrow range hydrometer for the later technique, as you are increasing the margin for error of the reading by a factor of 4 plus the loss of precision in diluting the sample.

 

[KYB]

I use Ale Pails to ferment in. I just sanitize the hydrometer and stick it in there. No loss of beer.

 

[Scut_Monkey]

In all seriousness, I think testing the fermenting beer with my palate is just as important as testing it with my hydrometer.

 

[mikeysab]

I give everything 3 to 4 weeks in the fermenter, so I'm not worried about it being done. If I use a Better Bottle, or my Coopers fermenter (lid is clear) I can tell if fermentation is going, so no use taking a reading. If I use a bucket, I'll crack the lid and take a look after 3 or 4 days, just to make sure it's going. Luckily, I've never had a stuck ferment, so I never had to rouse yeast, or add more.

I check once on brew day, and again on bottling day to check ABV. If I"m really excited about something, I might take a tasting sample, and just check grav for the eff of it. whatever samples you pull, you should taste, so you can see the steps it takes for your yeast to make beer out of your wort. Then there's the occasional time out of desperation when you're out of Homebrew, and you're drinking beer straight from the fermenter. Or am I the only one whose done that?

 

[Desert_Sky]

how do I avoid it?

Thats easy, I dont use a hydrometer.

Hydrometers only make you worry

 

[Synovia]

If you're not sure whether or not your beer is finished fermenting, don't take a sample, wait another week.

 

[jldc]

I usually take only one reading that costs me any beer.

I take my first reading after pitching from the wort remaining in the brew kettle after I've filled my carboy. No loss there.

I take the second reading after at least three weeks in primary. If it's in the range that I expect, then I'm done. If it's high, which is rare, then I repeat in another week.

 

[BucksPA]

get "The Thief" from your LHBS. it's a dip tube, pulls out some wort, you throw in your sanitized hydrometer, take a reading, and then use the thief to transfer the wort back to your carboy/bucket. sanitize that too.

 

[charliec]

After I pitch the yeast, I draw of a 12 ounce sample and put in a brown beer bottle. When I want to check fermentation, there it is. Need to check the gravity There is your sample. No waste, it is all accounted for. It works for me YMMV.