I will never know FG or OG!

[westy1970]

I have never taken a successful reading with a hydrometer. I have broken the last 5 that I owned and I finally have another one. I was getting ready to check the FG on the beer I was bottling last night and BROKE THE FLASK! It's just never going to happen


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[LLBeanJ]

Dude! What are you doing that you keep breaking hydrometers? I know they are prone to breaking, but I'm still on my first one after 45 or so batches. How on earth have you managed to break six of them?

 

[westy1970]

Who knows. My buddy even broke his when we were brewing last month. I guess I'm just bad luck with those things. I still have my last one just no flask to check it in.


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[prohl84]

LLBeanJ How have you managed to not break a single one? I'm on number 3 with a similar batch count.

Don't give up OP! Hydrometers are pretty cheap considering how useful they are. Get a plastic backup flask if you insist on a glass primary.

 

[prohl84]

A backup hydrometer or three might not be a bad idea if you are prone to breaking them.

 

[Zuljin]

Your hydrometer is not a mash paddle.

 

[LLBeanJ]

LLBeanJ How have you managed to not break a single one? I'm on number 3 with a similar batch count.

I have no idea. Maybe I'm just lucky, or managed to get one that is an outlier that isn't as fragile as most, even though it's just a cheapie from Midwest. I even have a backup since I figured I would need it eventually, but I haven't needed it yet.

 

[Cider123]

Careful not to drop it into your flask so that it ends up hitting the bottom of the flask. A good method is to lower it into the flask slowly, then release it and allow it to bob back up.

I used to teach a HS marine science class and my students would break hydrometers constantly by dropping them into the flask.

 

[masonsjax]

Sounds like you need a refractometer. Or you can do what I do and stop measuring altogether. That's how I've managed to still have my original hydrometer without breaking one.

 

[Hello]

I think you can find out your FG if you let the beer get to room temp and go flat if you already carbonated. That is, after you buy another hydrometer. Too bad Costco doesn't sell those in bulk. Sounds like you fling it around as if it is plastic. I understand they're fragile, mine was broken out of the kit before I even touched it, but still. I would have another on hand if I were you and if you didn't have it for your OG then surely by the time you hit your FG you bought another, yeah?

 

[Doctor_M]

As others have said buy 3 when you go to buy the replacement hydrometer. I always have 3 at a time. Remember the saying two is one and one is none. That being said you could still get a fg albeit at the expense of part of one of the bottles just make sure to let any carbonation come out of solution. Although on second thought I'm unsure how the priming sugar will affect that reading so maybe you are screwed....yet another reason why kegging is better

 

[fearwig]

If it helps, I like to sanitize mine and drop it straight in whatever I'm measuring sometimes. (beer miser)

Admittedly introducing that extra step might just make you more likely to break it... and break it into your beer or wort.

Not knowing your OG is a good way to underpitch if your efficiency goes up. Sometimes having too big a beer is unpleasant (ask my "Imperial ESB", though it's coming into its own with some time).

 

[Facinerous]

Get a digital hydrometer. Their expensive enough that you will treat it like gold. You'll get at least on OG and FG reading out of it

 

[fearwig]

Get a digital hydrometer. Their expensive enough that you will treat it like gold. You'll get at least on OG and FG reading out of it

Uhh are those available for less than say, $2,000? Because Amazon says no (unless you are using a digital hygrometer by mistake, haha).

 

[Facinerous]

Oh no. If anyone does find a digital hydrometer for less than $500 PM me please. Aside from that if was only half way joking. If I got one I would certainly treat it like gold.

 

[fearwig]

I'd probably drop it in the mash.

 

[Doctor_M]

Uhh are those available for less than say, $2,000? Because Amazon says no (unless you are using a digital hygrometer by mistake, haha).

I think he was partially joking. Yes digital hydrometers are expensive, a cheaper albeit still expensive alternative would be a digital refractometer.... although the cheaper non digital refractometers are pretty tough and a lot cheaper then a digital hydrometer/ digital refractometer.

 

[GuldTuborg]

How is it possible to break so many hydrometers? I'm still on my first one I bought well over 4 years ago (or 5, maybe...I forget).

I might suggest a refractometer, but I'd be concerned that would just get broken, too. I'd work on treating your hydrometers right.

 

[roastquake]

And here I am thinking that I'm the hydrometer breaking king! I've broken 3, so far, including one borrowed from a friend after breaking my first one. I have one on backup now that I haven't touched since getting a refractometer. You can get a refractometer for under $40, so if you know you're going to break all the hydrometers you get, it kind of pays for itself eventually

 

[prohl84]

OP: Just remembered that depending on what type of sleeve your hydrometer came in- you still have a test tube.

I'm unsure how the priming sugar will affect that reading so maybe you are screwed....yet another reason why kegging is better

Speise! Same FG as your beer because it is the same wort. Brew an extra quart or two (depending on batch size, OG, and desired carbonation) and don't ferment it- can it or pasteurize it on brewday like you would any other priming agent.

It dilutes the product as much as adding pure CO2 alone- which is to say not at all; plus you get extra beer.

 

[max384]

Im having a hard time wrapping my head around how you could possibly own five hydrometers without being able to successfully take a single reading due to breakage. You may consider talking to a doctor to rule out neurological problems. I'm being serious too.

Regardless, here's a plastic hydrometer I found doing a Google search. It reads from 1.000-1.220. It's pretty expensive at over $60... but in your case, this seems like money well spent. I would also buy a plastic graduated cylinder to go with your plastic hydrometer.

http://www.labdepotinc.com/Product_Details~id~482~pid~60594.aspx

The first hydrometer in that link has the correct specific gravity range for brewing.

 

[Homercidal]

I still have the same hydrometer I bought back in 1990 or 1991 (I can't remember, it's been so long now!)

I cannot fathom how you guys manage to break them so often. They are very easy to handle and come in a protective case and everything!

I've dropped the plastic test tube once and broke it, but that's all.

 

[Braufessor]

When I started brewing 17 years ago I knew I would break my hydrometer sooner or later. So, about a year into brewing I bought a second one - for when the day came that I broke the first one........ Still have both of them in one piece. It can be done.

 

[roastquake]

Personally, hurried cleanup and alcohol where the reasons for my hydrometer breakage. Also, for some reason, glass objects just want to get out of my hands so bad that they jump to their deaths

 

[prohl84]

I cannot fathom how you guys manage to break them so often. They are very easy to handle and come in a protective case and everything!

They're flimsier than eggshells. The case can be a liability- one of mine fell from a shelf into a basket of towels... probably wouldn't have broken if it hadn't been in the case.

 

[Markd27]

I have my original hydrometer from my first brewing kit I got as a gift 14 years ago. Survived being packed away for years during a brewing hiatus and being moved around to multiple locations.

I understand stuff happens, but going through that many in that short a time, hard to believe honestly.

 

[westy1970]

I do still have the last one I bought. I broke the flask on my last bottling adventure. They seem to slip out of my hand during sanitizing. Same with the flask but I bought a plastic one this time. Here's to keeping this hydrometer!


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[LLBeanJ]

Interesting. I can't say I've ever had a reason to sanitize my hydrometer.

 

[westy1970]

I guess I have to sanitize everything. Kinda obsessed that way.


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[max384]

I guess I have to sanitize everything. Kinda obsessed that way.


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Sanitize your wine thief, forget about your graduated cylinder and hydrometer. If you're measuring the gravity of pre-boil wort, you can toss it right back in after you get your reading. If you're measuring the gravity of your post boil, use a sanitized wine thief and then discard the wort once you're done measuring it.

It really doesn't matter if you take the extra step to sanitize it or not, but since you've broken the five hydrometers and one flask without ever having successfully taken a hydrometer reading, I think it would be quite prudent for you to forgo the unnecessary step of sanitizing your hydrometer.