Using an egg as a hydrometer

[passedpawn]

I heard one time that you could tell a strong beer because the wort would "float an egg". So I looked into it and yes, you sorta could do this. Here's a graph from an old white paper I found on the interwebs:

From this crazy graph, looks like the specific gravity of an egg is about 1.077 - 1.087 depending on the age of the bird. Now, when one of those post-apocalypse zombies-have-taken-over threads pop up, there's a way to test gravity without a hydrometer.

That's assuming the chickens haven't been infected by the zombie flu.

 

[MBasile]

Makes sense, in theory you should be able to float anything in it as long as the density of the object is less than the density of the wort.

 

[Revvy]

Interesting!

That's probably where the idea for the *giggle* Brew Balls come from.

http://www.brewballstore.com/

I just hope the noobs who would try ANY outlandish idea rather than take an ACTUAL hydrometer reading think to sanitize the egg first.

 

[Revvy]

Hey Beevis, he said "balls."

 

[lunchbox]

Hey Beevis, he said "balls."

Is that the Washington Monument, or are you just happy to see me?

 

[arturo7]

You would also need to know the age of the egg itself; the shell is permeable to air. New eggs sink, old eggs float.

 

[Mischief_Brewing]

leave it in for the boil

 

[blizz81]

leave it in for the boil

Use an all-egg solution for your mash water

 

[passedpawn]

You would also need to know the age of the egg itself; the shell is permeable to air. New eggs sink, old eggs float.

Yea, I've been told floaters (in water) are too old to eat.

 

[Revvy]

So are these supposed to be hard boiled or raw eggs we're floating?

 

[MBasile]

Interesting!

That's probably where the idea for the *giggle* Brew Balls come from.

http://www.brewballstore.com/

I just hope the noobs who would try ANY outlandish idea rather than take an ACTUAL hydrometer reading think to sanitize the egg first.

Those would be cool if the top of my carboy wasn't typically covered with dried krausen crud preventing me from seeing the top of the beer!

 

[Revvy]

Those would be cool if the top of my carboy wasn't typically covered with dried krausen crud preventing me from seeing the top of the beer!

I know. I think they were given as prizes at NHC a couple of years ago. Some folks on here, i think even Yoop have them. Don't know if they've used them.

 

[zman]

Interesting!

That's probably where the idea for the *giggle* Brew Balls come from.

http://www.brewballstore.com/

I just hope the noobs who would try ANY outlandish idea rather than take an ACTUAL hydrometer reading think to sanitize the egg first.

The Brew balls kick ass! It was worth the $20. I still use the hydrometer on occasion. It is a PITA if you get a lot of kraussen crud but I have been making a lot of hard lemonade and apfelwine lately so they come in handy.

 

[Nicksbrew]

from www.brewballstore.com

KEEP OUT OF REACH OF CHILDREN.

BREWBALLS IS NOT A TOY.

sorry, I thought that was funny.