Hydrometer in Carboy?

[kevinsteg]

This may be a dumb question, but I was wondering... Instead of having to pull some small samples out of the primary to measure gravity, why couldn't one just put a sterilized hydrometer in at the start of fermentation and leave it there till bottling? Would it make it easier or are there problems with doing that I have not thought about?

 

[EricK The Red]

This may be a dumb question, but I was wondering... Instead of having to pull some small samples out of the primary to measure gravity, why couldn't one just put a sterilized hydrometer in at the start of fermentation and leave it there till bottling? Would it make it easier or are there problems with doing that I have not thought about?

It might get very crusty looking and hard to read. Pull a sample, taste a sample...

 

[david_42]

And the crusties will weight it down & give you false readings, which you won't be able to read.

You could just pull a sample and set the hydrometer tube next to the fermenter. That way you can clean the hydrometer as necessary. I do this some of the time. For whatever reason, the wort in the tube ferments faster than the bulk.

 

[Yooper]

And, if you bump your fermenter, you could break your hydrometer in the beer! Then you'd have to through away 5 gallons of beer wtih glass shards. It's easy to use a sanitized turkey baster or wine thief to take whatever samples you need. I usually only check the sg after about 10 days or so, to see if fermentation is done, and/or at bottling.

 

[malkore]

it'd be very hard to remove that hydrometer without breaking it...they're just so fragile.

and you can't tie anything to it as the minor change in weight would throw off the readings.

 

[ohiobrewtus]

Freaking hydrometers... I break at least 4 a year.

I'd recommend taking samples for the very reason that Yooper mentioned. One wrong move and you could have shards of glass in your beer. NOT GOOD!

 

[GloHoppa]

when you take samples with a turkey baster, make sure you know how much you need in your test jar for the hydrometer to work because I ended up having to crack my barrel like 3 times last night in order to get a large enough sample....i know i'm a moron..

 

[BREW N QUE]

I had the same Idea and left my hydrometer in my carboy, but like everyone said it got a little crusty. But If you do and need to get your hydrometer out of your carboy just fill it with water.

 

[DeathBrewer]

meh. get a wine thief or sample taker. taste the sample, it's informative and fun.

 

[5 Is Not Enough]

I used to do this. There is an obvious risk of breakage, but I've not had a problem(out of maybe 20 times).
You definitely have to wait until the krausen falls and everything starts to settle.