VODKA KIT HELP 0 reading on hydrometer

[matt3360]

hello guys have made me a vodka home kit and all went well bubbling away nicley and did all the stages inclding the many cyphons drink tates dry but now tested it with hydrometer it reads zero alchol how can it bubble and all go well then hydro read zero

any help would be great this has taken me 4 weeks

 

[Picobrew]

hello guys have made me a vodka home kit and all went well bubbling away nicley and did all the stages inclding the many cyphons drink tates dry but now tested it with hydrometer it reads zero alchol how can it bubble and all go well then hydro read zero

any help would be great this has taken me 4 weeks

I have no idea how a vodka kit works, but if it is anything like a beer or wine kit, you can't just take a hydro reading at the end and determine alcohol. You have to take hydro at the beginning and the end and compare the two to discover the ABV. To take a finished product and know the ABV, you need a different tool, with which I'm not familiar.

If it is reading 1.000 on the hydrometer, that means it has about the density of water. I would expect vodka to dip lower than that, but like I said, I don't really know how a "vodka kit" works - Does it require distillation?

RDWHAHV

 

[macabra11]

Where did you get this "vodka kit" from? What came with it? Sounds a little suspect to me...

 

[matt3360]

hey nop it dont it work on high power yeast to around 18% i have a hydormeter that has the abv marking on it only when i float it goes straight to zero what do u think can this reader be wrong cuase it was bubbling for 2 and a hlf weeks

then cyphon liquor from yeast sediment

 

[arover]

Aye. All, if not most hydrometers have the "ABV" marking. You're supposed to take the reading when you INITIALLY do your batch, then at the end, and take the difference of the two "percentages". That'll give you the ABV. It's just a simple way of looking at it. At least that's my take. And, if it's at 1.000, it's probably still fermenting...because I think that stuff tends to go a bit lower.

 

[matt3360]

its a phorbition high vodka kit i have made one before got abv of 18 this one did all the same came out at zero there all on the web phobition high alchol kit i have spoke to them on the phone before all real

 

[matt3360]

it has fermeted for 2 and half weeks just like the one before that one at the end read 18% theres no other markign part from ABV at start they were 0 the first 1 made it to 18 this one is at 0 any ideas

 

[Picobrew]

hey nop it dont it work on high power yeast to around 18% i have a hydormeter that has the abv marking on it only when i float it goes straight to zero what do u think can this reader be wrong cuase it was bubbling for 2 and a hlf weeks

then cyphon liquor from yeast sediment

Have you been drinking some of this "home vodka"? You are a bit hard to understand. Read my post above - you can't just take a reading at the end. That is a relative ABV % - you have to compare to a pre-ferment reading. Most people don't use that set of markings on the hydrometer, they use the Gravity readings, subtract the "original gravity" (pre-ferment reading) from the "final gravity" (post-ferment reading) and then do a calculation to determine ABW or ABV.

I'm sure there is a similar post on this site, but check this out: Realbeer.com: Beer Break - Calculating Alcohol Content

 

[arover]

I can hardly understand you...but do understand I'm pretty sure if you're in the states the legality of this all...isn't there. Since it's not legal (from my understanding) here, most people probably don't readily engage in it compared to other, easier things to brew. Plus, you're asking this in the beer brewing forum. Anyways, once again...read what has been said. Do a little research...

 

[Picobrew]

it has fermeted for 2 and half weeks just like the one before that one at the end read 18% theres no other markign part from ABV at start they were 0 the first 1 made it to 18 this one is at 0 any ideas

It is supposed to go down over time, not up. I think if you take a reading at the beginning and it says 18% and then you let it finish out and it reads 0%, then that means it is done, but I use gravities and don't really know for sure.

It sounds like your first batch didn't finish properly, and maybe you did a bit better this time around.

 

[arover]

And, if I understand this right, you had a hydrometer go from 0 to 18%? I'm pretty sure hydrometers shouldn't be going up after fermentation

 

[KayaBrew]

Distillation is illegal in the States, and no one can understand what the hell this thread is about. Any mods out there?

 

[arover]

Distillation is illegal in the States, and no one can understand what the hell this thread is about. Any mods out there?

While point 2 is wholeheartedly valid, he could just as easily be out of the states. His english isn't the greatest, after all.

 

[matt3360]

ok ok

let me start again easer

i have purchased from a uk shop a phribiton high alochol vodka kit using yeast fermentation.... in the beggining i have a reader that has NO specific gravity readings just ABV when u add all the ingredients it reads 0

i have made one of these before the end result was 18%

this time the kit worked in the same way and it eneded up on 0! i was wondering if even though u can cleary see fermentation going why would it read zero

theese kits are legal u can buy them on any home brew shop when they are done u add vodka flovring to the mixture which is sugar water yeast persavtive and yeast nutrient

this is my second batch and has a read out of 0%

just to make the point this reader has no speicifc gravity on it just ABV which reads zero when i started and zero now and fermtaion cleary took place!

hope this helps


this kit does not involve distillation its is made using yeast fermentation

distilling in the UK is against the law i am in the UK but i am rushing this sorry guys just annoyed its not worked

 

[Yooper]

I'm not sure what you're talking about, but you are of legal age in your country. If you can post a link to your "vodka kit", that would help. I don't think any of us have seen the kit you're talking about.

 

[matt3360]

sure let me show you


high alcohol kits

 

[matt3360]

im sorry i dont come across well please basically what im saying is the ABV reading has not changed so basically even tho it looks like it has fermented the ABV has not moved

 

[matt3360]

i am a novice so it may not be a hydrometer u drop it in the brew it floats on what abv it is on u do it tiwce begging and bottleing both times zero all though fermtation has happened

 

[Yooper]

Well, do you have a hydrometer? One with a scale on it?

If you add all the ingredients, there is NO way it should be 0. It should be like 1.130 or so on the "SG" scale when you add all the ingredients. It should finish at about 0 or a bit below (since alcohol is lighter than water).

If you don't have a specific gravity scale, the hydrometer should read about 18% on the potential alcohol scale at the beginning, and 0 at the end of the scale. At least this is the case in all of the "triple scale" hydrometers I've ever seen.

Can you also post a link to your hydrometer so we can see where the 0 is? If it's been bubbling a couple of weeks, it's hard to believe that no fermentation took place. Did you taste it? Does it taste a bit "hot"? That's not very scientific, I know, but if it's very sweet and yeasty without hotness, it's not fermented. If it's not sweet, and a bit hot, it's about finished.

 

[SOB]

Sorry, but what would help is some spell check and puncuation...

 

[matt3360]

ok ok i can can call to the usa or msn to chat this out i am nto very good at comming across well i have all the stuff in front of me call or msn and i can explain the whole thign in 5 mins

 

[matt3360]

anyone who has five mins to sort this out please its taken me 4 and a half weeks

 

[Picobrew]

I think he is using the hydrometer on the link he sent, which they are calling an alcometer, and which doesn't have gravity, only some percentages. I'm not sure if they move up or down during fermentation, the scale could be inverted, the photo is bad.. At any rate, just taste the stuff and see if tastes good. What temperature is it? Put your alcometer in some water and see what it does. Put it in some sugar water and see what it does. What were the readings you took before/after for both batches?


this stuff sounds like the mike's hard lemonade type of "brewing" ... after this mate, you should make a real beer. Or at least some Apfelwein. It's cheaper and easier and will taste better.

 

[matt3360]

yeah i am making a beer kit now as i say i am a novice it tates like siprit its just wierd ill try the water

 

[Picobrew]

yeah i am making a beer kit now as i say i am a novice it tates like siprit its just wierd ill try the water

Did you take readings before and after fermentation for both of these batches? What were they?

 

[matt3360]

yeah ok

batch one started at ABV reading 0 ended on 18
batch two started at ABV reading 0 ended on 0

the drink brew the same same time for fermenting then clearign and etc all the same i dont see how it can bubble and end on zero try water has the same ABV reading of 0

this is so wierd can a alco meter be confused by nutirents etc

 

[Picobrew]

yeah ok

batch one started at ABV reading 0 ended on 18
batch two started at ABV reading 0 ended on 0

the drink brew the same same time for fermenting then clearign and etc all the same i dont see how it can bubble and end on zero try water has the same ABV reading of 0

this is so wierd can a alco meter be confused by nutirents etc

If your meter reads 0 on water and 0 at the start of both of your batches, that is pretty weird. With hydrometers, fermentation ends at readings that are similar to water, and you get a higher reading than water before fermentation. So if your scale was inverted (0 pre-fermentation), then I would expect water to read 18 or at least something above 0. So I am a bit confused about what is going on here. It might be that your alcometer is broken or that the way you are doing the readings is not correct. Are you floating it in a decent amount of liquid in a cylinder of some sort? Got any photos?? If you are convinced it is done , then why don't you just drink it and relax. Next time around, get a hydrometer that has gravity readings on it, they are about $8 in the US.

 

[Picobrew]

yeah ok
this is so wierd can a alco meter be confused by nutirents etc

do you mean you just added some stuff before taking the reading? If what you added had sugars etc in it, it would definitely confuse the reading.

 

[Revvy]

Hey gang helping this guy...Aren't the hydrometers used in spirit production different from the ones we use for beer and wine...I thought they used a different scale or something...that might be where some of the confusion in numbers lie....I have nothing else to offer...but it just occured to me that that might be why some confusion is going on here..

That is all I can offer....Carry one!

 

[Yooper]

Go ahead and give it a little taste and report back on what's going on with the taste/smell/color. We can help you figure this out!