Poll: What do you do with your hydrometer samples?

[MaxStout]

What do you do with your hydro samples? Enquiring minds want to know.

 

[day_trippr]

Refractometer fan here, but I do sip the ~half milliliter left in the pipette

 

[worlddivides]

I picked "I drink the whole thing. Hey, it's beer!" but technically I often drink half of it, maybe have my wife drink half of it, or drink half of it and dump the rest down the drain. Depends on the beer, though. There are some that taste drastically different at room temperature without any carbonation, while there are others that taste amazing like that so I fully enjoy it. If it's not beer but wort, I never drink the whole thing. Maybe a third of it or so?

 

[Willy]

Hydro samples? Nope. In lieu of that - I get a sample the size of a shot glass and use the Anton Parr Easy Dens. The wort sample just gets dumped. Because I use (waste) so little... I take more samples.

If it is brew day, and it is just sweet wort - my dog is always ready for a sample.

 

[IslandLizard]

I always drink the whole hydro sample:

1. Quality control!
2. It's good beer

 

[lumpher]

Dump beer?????

 

[bestcoast]

I use a refractometer and a Tilt so I don't have to waste precious beer before it's ready to drink. Oxygen was the main reason I moved on from hydrometers, but it was also in part because I really don't like drinking uncarbonated/unfinished wort, so I'd always dump the sample.

 

[Snuffy]

I use a Tilt. I drink the entire sample.

 

[Climb]

I always drink the sample and I always taste the grains. Both help with future recipe development.

 

[Broken Crow]

None of the above! Brew days take it out of me and leave my kitchen in a less-than functional state, so I plan for a lazy supper: Mine goes over a pork roast in the crock-pot. Occasionally, a sample from the fermenter will go into my foil-wrapped and seasoned ribs or chicken.
I hate to waste anything.

 

[RyPA]

Pre-fermentation - I take a whiff and a small taste.
Post-fermantion - Drink the entire thing.

 

[bailey mountain brewer]

I use an Anton Paar easydens.. so I pull like an once or two but it's still enough to taste.

 

[mac_1103]

Looks like some folks might have missed the "FG" in the poll title but anyway... I drink mine. Sometimes they taste awesome and get me all excited to get the beer carbed up and ready to serve. Sometimes they taste weird and get me worried about whether I screwed up the batch somehow. But either way it doesn't seem to correlate with how I end up feeling about the beer is when it's ready. I guess I just suck at tasting green beer.

 

[Broothru]

Hydro samples? Nope. In lieu of that - I get a sample the size of a shot glass and use the Anton Parr Easy Dens. The wort sample just gets dumped. Because I use (waste) so little... I take more samples.

If it is brew day, and it is just sweet wort - my dog is always ready for a sample.

Absolutely. Eight to 10 ounces (minimum) in a hydrometer jar every time I measure? Or 5-10 ml max into the Anton-Parr? It's a no-brainer for me.

 

[mac_1103]

Eight to 10 ounces (minimum)

Say what? I need about four.

 

[Broothru]

Say what? I need about four.

Yeah, but I spill alot .

 

[scrap iron]

I like to taste the final sample just to see how it came out. Also to see how the bitterness level came out compared to what I was shooting for. Sometimes I have a taste and put the rest in the fridge to check the clarity the next day.

 

[BeerNsteadofH2O]

I smell, taste, record findings then drink the rest " its 5 o'clock somewhere"

 

[BrewZer]

I use a refractometer coming out of the pot, but a hydrometer for the final gravity. I and the Assistent Braumeister sample from the hydro tube so we have a starting comparison for when it's done carbing. Rarely do we drink it all but we only pour out a couple of ounces at most.

 

[Scottyward]

Of course, I drink it. It might be 5am, but can’t waist good beer.

 

[kylewag]

I drink mine. I actually do a combination of refractometer and hydrometer. I take refractometer readings for OG and the first FG sample. Then I take another FG refractometer reading two days later to make sure it's the same as before and then I take a hydrometer reading to get more concrete results. I don't fully trust the online refractometer calculators. They are usually in the ballpark but I get slightly different results on different calculators. So I do a hydrometer test just to make sure. I also like to taste the beers and measure the color with an SRM chart (if it's clear enough already). Like mac_1103 mentioned above sometimes the warm, non-carbonated sample tastes very similar to the finished beer and sometimes it tastes weird and gets me worried. One time I worried so much that it triggered a migraine. Then the carbonated, chilled finished beer tasted fine. It made me question if I should taste these samples anymore, but I still do.

 

[Maylar]

Depends on where in the process it is. During an active ferment I pour it back in. Never worried since the test equipment is sanitized. At the end when checking FG I'll drink it.