Tasty Test Tubes

[Chenslee]

Anyone else chug the contents of your hydrometer test tubes? I mean, why waste beer even if it's half attenuated, warm, uncarbed, and with krausen globs floating on top?

I drank it up last night after taking a reading. MMMMM so good I might just serve it warm when it's actually ready.

 

[FoundlingOfDollar]

I do, but I can't get my wife to sample warm flat beer. I think though that drinking the hydrometer sample is pretty common here.

Personally I prefer a good cellar temp, not cold, not room temp, just cool. It's great for full bodied dark beers.

 

[UrbanBrew]

Of course
:fro:

 

[jamesjensen1068]

Yeah...and I bet you are a airlock sniffer too! Come on admit it?????

I'm guilty too.

 

[dpittard]

Testing the sample is crucial to understanding the brewing process, IMO. You REALLY learn a lot by tasting you beer at different stages.

 

[agodfrey11]

drinking hydrometer test samples? Sniffing Air Locks? yeah, I'm guilty too.

 

[Chenslee]

I sniff that airlock so much, I'm going to be bored with the beer before I even get to drink it! The fermenter is on the kitchen counter and I put my nose right on the 3-piece and suck it. I get starsan foam in my nose sometimes.

I actually got my wife to sample the sample a week ago. She wouldn't try it yesterday, even though it tasted much better.

 

[Wigglyscuds]

I sniff that airlock so much, I'm going to be bored with the beer before I even get to drink it! The fermenter is on the kitchen counter and I put my nose right on the 3-piece and suck it. I get starsan foam in my nose sometimes.

I actually got my wife to sample the sample a week ago. She wouldn't try it yesterday, even though it tasted much better.

Haha, I love the foam. Especially in a blow-off rig. Sometimes it'll foam up and I can scoop the foam up and sniff it. I'm a foam sniffer.

 

[MBasile]

I drink the fermentation samples, but not the sample from before pitching the yeast. That one is just way to sweet for me

 

[HoppyMaltPoet]

Yeah definitely drink the test samples. Funny, I used to cringe at the idea of this when I first started brewing(not sure why). Now I need to. I can get a good feeling for how the flavor profile is coming along throughout the process. My current Holiday Ale tasted so good last hydro reading, I was tempted to chug the carboy. OK, maybe not, but I am having a hard time waiting it out at the very least.

 

[Revvy]

You mean there's people who DON'T drink their samples?

Mine never have glops of krausen though...If it's got krausen I don't seen a need to take a reading then. I know it's fermenting.

 

[Drinks3point2]

I'm a big fan of drinking the test tube. I sniff the air locks too. I made an incredibly hopped up wheat ale not long ago (T Can and Bearcats Wheaten Beat Down from NB, just in case anyone is interested such a brew- Highly recomended!). The first sample, just before pitching, had an unbelievable and harsh bite to it. I thought it wasn't going to be very good because of the bite. I was so wrong. It's one week in the bottle now and it's one of the best beers I've made!

 

[MyNameIsPaul]

I'm currently dry-hopping an APA with 2oz of Simcoe whole leaf hops. They're looking all tasty, just floating on top, so I went to pop the airlock and take a whiff. HOLY CRAP what a HopAttack on my nose. I'll have to remember to waft it to my face instead of just huffing the carboy from now on!

Samples? You betcha. Airlock Sniffing? Absolutely.

 

[bwomp313]

We once took a little bit of cooled wort (stout), mixed it with a little vanilla vodka in a shaker and called it the Black Gold Martini...it was...interesting.

 

[McNulty]

You guys are nuts! Me too. Guilty.
My first batch smelled so good burping out of the lock that when i ripped the bucket lid off on racking day I got down right on the surface and took a massive snort of what I thought would be concentrated heaven. It was instead concentrated murder which burned my nasal. Collapsed my lungs for a moment too.

 

[LaurieGator]

I love the hydrometer samples. The airlock smells good too! Especially some of the meads I have made, MMMMM.

 

[MBasile]

You guys are nuts! Me too. Guilty.
My first batch smelled so good burping out of the lock that when i ripped the bucket lid off on racking day I got down right on the surface and took a massive snort of what I thought would be concentrated heaven. It was instead concentrated murder which burned my nasal. Collapsed my lungs for a moment too.

You pretty much snorted CO2