Terrible idea or lazy genius?

[chossy]

I bought a new sample jar for my hydrometer, when I was buying it the guy in the store said. 'I like these jars you can just put your hydrometer in and just leave it'.....

I nodded and thought WTF.... then I thought hold on is this guy a genius...

If after you get signs of fermentation you take a sample then just leave the hydrometer in it then would it all ferment at the same time and all you need to do is look at the hydrometer in the same sample you took to see how it's progressing.... could it be that... just a fun thought... I have one sitting just now, I know it is open and all that but I thought I'd do a wee experiment

 

[W0GWT]

I bought a new sample jar for my hydrometer, when I was buying it the guy in the store said. 'I like these jars you can just put your hydrometer in and just leave it'.....



I nodded and thought WTF.... then I thought hold on is this guy a genius...



If after you get signs of fermentation you take a sample then just leave the hydrometer in it then would it all ferment at the same time and all you need to do is look at the hydrometer in the same sample you took to see how it's progressing.... could it be that... just a fun thought... I have one sitting just now, I know it is open and all that but I thought I'd do a wee experiment

Well, the wort will be (assuming, as I don't know what the "sample jar" looks like) more susceptible to contaminants than on the fermentor.
If it gets infected, the gravity wouldn't be the same. Also, the conditions are different in the 2 vessels, so I'm not sure how comparable the 2 fermentations will be.

Good luck with the experiment!

 

[jhoneycutt]

I accidentally did something similar once. I took my OG reading, went to write it in my log, came back and put the lid on and forgot all about it. Lol 2.5 weeks later when I went to take another reading I couldn't find it... Turns out you can't do it that way, the krausen covers it completely lol.

 

[DeutscheMaster]

You can do something similar. Use a sanitized bottle and place some wort and yeast in it. Cover it or place an airlock on it. You check the gravity of that satellite fermentation, instead of risking your main fermentor.

 

[Hermit]

I always leave my gravity sample out. Nothing new here.

 

[jhoneycutt]

You can do something similar. Use a sanitized bottle and place some wort and yeast in it. Cover it or place an airlock on it. You check the gravity of that satellite fermentation, instead of risking your main fermentor.

Love your profile pic. Popcorn would have been awesome to have known. Too bad about him.

 

[Cathedral]

My gravity sample only stays out long enough for me to read it. Then it goes into my belly.

 

[Jaybird]

Love your profile pic. Popcorn would have been awesome to have known. Too bad about him.

Took the words right out of my mouth.

Cheers
Jay

 

[JonM]

Revvy addressed this a while back. They call them "satellite fermenters."

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/satellite-fermenter-98343/

 

[Billy-Klubb]

the way my granny & grandpa used to was put the hydrometer right in the wort & leave it. their hydrometer had a red line to indicate when to bottle. granny said, "When it hits the red line, bottle." I still don't know how the had the same hydrometer for 20 years without breaking it.

 

[cmoewes]

I've actually starting doing a forced fermentation test (as suggested in the "Yeast" book). Once the yeast is pitched and distributed, take a sample and then keep it in a water bath around 80 degrees. This will speed the fermentation up and give you a look at what you optimal attenuation will be.