How Do You Read Your Hydrometer....

[brewagentjay]

So I try to be as acuate as I can on this thing....I don't have brew software so I use Note pad for notes.

I down loaded BeerSmith but not sure how to get out of it what some seem to. I got 20 days to figure it out I guess.

Now Back to Hydro - I put get a sample with my trusty tukery baster into a plastic test tube deal, then place in hydrometer, spin, take a reading. Then I spin it again let it settle to center (repeat spin until it settles in center). Next I take a picture which I blow up on computer to get as close to a good reading as I can. Now take the sample temp and plug both numbers into the hydro correction caculator.

Does anyone else go to this much trouble? Just curious.



Side Note: I love drinking SG samples from my test tube.........:rockin:

 

[Special Hops]

Ocd?


......

 

[rcrabb22]

I take a sample large enough to cause the sample tube to overflow when floating the hydrometer. I get a better view of the reading at the very top of the tube. I observed this technique performed by the brewmaster at a local microbrew. Most of the foam/bubbles go out with the overflow. It is a good idea to place the sample tube in the sink before placing the hydrometer in it.

 

[brewagentjay]

Good Idea........

Yes on the OCD perhaps

 

[Layne]

I take a sample large enough to cause the sample tube to overflow when floating the hydrometer. I get a better view of the reading at the very top of the tube. I observed this technique performed by the brewmaster at a local microbrew. Most of the foam/bubbles go out with the overflow. It is a good idea to place the sample tube in the sink before placing the hydrometer in it.

Brilliant! so simple, yet I would have never thought of it. Brilliant!

 

[captianoats]

I just drop a sanitized hydrometer into the wort itself. They say to read thru the meniscus.

Then again, I don't get too worked up about the numbers. I go AG, but don't get too worried about efficiency, abv, etc. I just want enough sugar to keep the yeasties happy, and to be able to read when the they are done so I don't get bottle bombs.

 

[user 34267]

Taking a photo and blowing it up?

I doubt the hydrometer is calibrated precisely enough to make it worthwhile.

I drop the hydrometer into my sample (I've got one of the fermtech wine thiefs that lets you take the reading in the thief), give it a good spin, and read it. The overflow is a good trick to get rid of foam but I can usually read the hydrometer through the foam without any trouble and that way I don't waste beer!

 

[Sedge]

Does anyone else go to this much trouble? Just curious.

Short answer: No.

 

[RegionalChaos]

I put the hydrometer in my wine thief, then grab a sample till it floats.