I dont think I care about my OG anymore

[utahusker]

DAMMIT !!!

3 brews, 2 broken hydrometers.

I'm gonna have to start taking it a little more easy on mine.

First one I broke was sanitizing for my 2nd brew. Lessons learned on that and cramming more equipment into my sanitizing bucket. it was actually the bottle tree i was pushing down into the solution that did it...

Then last night while on my 3rd brew, the SWMBO and I were sharing kitchen space. i went to clear her a spot on the counter and the hydrometer hit the floor. Another lesson learned.

glad i had bought two on my last trip to my LHBS.

From now on, I will keep it seperated and protected until i plan on using it.

Why are you sanitizing your hydrometer?

 

[desiderata]

by utahusker: "Why are you sanitizing your hydrometer?"

if you don't have a beer thief, then you need to either sanitize the hydrometer or the hydrometer tube to get a reading, don't you? Instead of getting a sample with the tube (good if you want to taste it, i'll admit), why not just put the hydrometer in the wort itself?

 

[BrewProject]

Why are you sanitizing your hydrometer?

now that i think about it, i assume you are correct.

i do use a hydrometer/taste tube to measure and taste with. so i guess maybe i really don't need to worry about sanitizing either of those items.

thanks, now the hydrometer will just stay in the tube and safely put away, except for the few minutes i actually need to use it.

 

[cweston]

by utahusker: "Why are you sanitizing your hydrometer?"

if you don't have a beer thief, then you need to either sanitize the hydrometer or the hydrometer tube to get a reading, don't you? Instead of getting a sample with the tube (good if you want to taste it, i'll admit), why not just put the hydrometer in the wort itself?

Two reasons:

1. Impossible to do in a carboy, pretty-much. Very difficult to get an accurate reading in an opaque bucket.

2. A much greater sanitation risk: getting a good hydrometer reading in a bucket means getting your fingers very close to the wort. In a carboy it means (at the very least) touching the inside of the neck.

If you don't want to lose the couple ounces it takes to get a reading in the sample tube, then sanitize the tube and the hydrometer and just pour the liquid back in the bucket or carboy when you're done.

 

[Walker]

Damn! I can't believe I missed this thread.

I look at it much like I do using a thermometer to see if my steak is done. I've cooked a lot of steaks, and I don't need a thermometer to tell me when my steak is done. True, I might not cook my steak the exact same way every single time, but I still make a damn good steak every time.

-walker

 

[brewhead]

to all those who are ditching their hydros faster than the femenist movement burned their bras, and to all those who have broken several, and to those who find it a pita to use a hydrometer, why not just spend the $35 and get a refractometer. there are so many advantages of a refractometer over a hydrometer that it makes it well worth the minimal investment

 

[Glibbidy]

Please mail your hydrometers to me, I'm thinking of making a sculpture out of them.

 

[Walker]

to all those who are ditching their hydros faster than the femenist movement burned their bras, and to all those who have broken several, and to those who find it a pita to use a hydrometer, why not just spend the $35 and get a refractometer. there are so many advantages of a refractometer over a hydrometer that it makes it well worth the minimal investment

Hang up my $10 device that I hate and buy a $35 device that I will equally hate?

Hmmmmm... give me some time to think about this one....