Returning samples to fermenter?

[Sixmilecross]

bmwwd6, I would sanitize the wine thief and hydrometer, pull a sample from the carboy or bucket using the wine thief and then drop the hydrometer into the thief for a reading. Once that's done, you can return the entire sample to the fermenter using the plug on the bottom of the thief with little risk of infection. If you want to try a sample, you can return only part of the beer in the thief and drink what's left, or just drink the whole thing. I usually only save myself about a shot but to each his own.

You can take 3 straight days worth of sample, but as others have said, you really only need to take 2 samples with at least 1 day between the first and last sample.

 

[whitehause]

Have never had an infected batch, it is a boogyman rule.

The sanitation advice is all over the place here.
bucket lid blown off for a week, OK
mold, OK just rack from under it.
insect corpses in starters, OK

santitized thief (a tool designed for the purpose of returning samples), Bad.

I agree, but those are all things that already happened, so you might as well roll with it. This is something you can choose to do or not. I just don't see why you would even take the chance for a few oz's. If your talking about after fermentation, it's not as big a deal because of the alcohol present. I would never return my OG sample though.

 

[KeyWestBrewing]

Why dump the OG sample? Whats the difference between taking the hydrometer and test tube out of starsan and taking a sample then adding to carboy vs taking your funnel out of the starsan, emptying the carboy of starsan and transferring from the kettle? To me it seems like no difference. Id be more worried about using top off water from my tap then a 2 second gravity reading.

 

[whitehause]

I don't get carried away with my OG sanitation, so I don't put it back. I just rinse the hydro tube and hydrometer, siphon some in at the start of the transfer, stick it in the fridge to get it to 60 Deg(I can only get to about 65 with my chiller) while I finish the transfer. Then take a reading and a few swigs right from the hydrometer tube. Wash everything and put it away. I primary for 3 weeks, and do the same thing for the FG also(using a sanitized glass thief). I guess I just don't see the big deal in having to put 3 or 4 oz's back in the bucket.