Why not just leave hydrometer in primary?

[NorCalAngler]

Hydrometers are fairly cheap and they're glass so they're easily sanitized. Can anybody think of a reason why leaving a hydrometer in primary is a bad idea? I'm thinking it could be dropped in the primary once the krausen falls that way it doesn't get gunked up. It could also be left in secondary to see if any additional points come off the beer.

It may be an issue in a glass carboy with the risk of shattering, but there is no risk of that in a better bottle or plastic fermenter. It would be so much easier to monitor final gravity toward the end of the brew without pulling multiple samples and disturbing the beer.

 

[DeBrewer]

I had the exact same thought this morning and didnt find any info. Love to hear a why/why not.

 

[knotquiteawake]

I would have trouble reading it inside a 6 gallon.

 

[doulovebeef]

unless u have a thermometer in your primary, temp differences will give u a different gravity.

 

[NorCalAngler]

One downside I can think of is hydrometers tend to stick to the side of containers so you would have to grab the top and spin it. It may be difficult to get it to suspend in the middle of a better bottle.

 

[pwndabear]

in another monitoring SG thread, i started to think about this.

The main issue that would arise is that the hydrometer could possibly move to the side of the container and "stick" there due to surface tension. in that case, you would not be able to get a good reading.

*edit* YAR beat me to it

 

[Revvy]

in another monitoring SG thread, i started to think about this.

The main issue that would arise is that the hydrometer could possibly move to the side of the container and "stick" there due to surface tension. in that case, you would not be able to get a good reading.

*edit* YAR beat me to it

And krausen is going to goop around it and throw off the reading and or simply make it hard to read. It's not a difficult thing to do to take a hydro reading, and shouldn't be feared or avoided.

This is what I use, and it works with both buckets and carboys

And

Here's what I do....

1) With a spray bottle filled with starsan I spray the lid of my bucket, or the mouth of the carboy, including the bung. Then I spray my turkey baster inside and out with sanitize (or dunking it in a container of sanitizer).

2) Open fermenter.

3) Draw Sample

4) fill sample jar (usualy 2-3 turky baster draws

5)Spray bung or lid with sanitizer again

6) Close lid or bung

6) take reading

It is less than 30 seconds from the time the lid is removed until it is closed again.

Probably less if you have help. And unless a bird flies in your place and lets go with some poop, you should be okay.

 

[UTbrewer]

Get yourself some Brew Balls! Pretty close to what your are looking for!

http://www.austinhomebrew.com/produ...12581&osCsid=05162ddf617bc4cd830ee749841957f4

 

[bsdx]

Bubbles could form on it too and make it float more, throwing off the reading. Save up your pennies for one of these (I want one!): http://fermonitor.com/

 

[NorCalAngler]

Get yourself some Brew Balls! Pretty close to what your are looking for!

http://www.austinhomebrew.com/produ...12581&osCsid=05162ddf617bc4cd830ee749841957f4

Brew Balls are awesome, but I highly doubt they were designed by a brewer because there is a big difference between a beer at 1.020 and one at 1.010. That's just too big a gap right in the area where most beers finish. It could be 1.019 or it could be 1.011... who knows. They were able to use a .005 increment from 1.010 to 1.005 so they should get rid of the 1.055 and throw a 1.015 in there.

 

[millsware]

I put a sanitized hydrometer and thermometer into my ale pail before I pitch to get my starting numbers. Then I leave them in there until bottling so I don't have to resanitize. Seems so easy I figured that a bunch of people did it.

 

[JLem]

And krausen is going to goop around it and throw off the reading and or simply make it hard to read. It's not a difficult thing to do to take a hydro reading, and shouldn't be feared or avoided.

This is what I use, and it works with both buckets and carboys

And

Here's what I do....

1) With a spray bottle filled with starsan I spray the lid of my bucket, or the mouth of the carboy, including the bung. Then I spray my turkey baster inside and out with sanitize (or dunking it in a container of sanitizer).

2) Open fermenter.

3) Draw Sample

4) fill sample jar (usualy 2-3 turky baster draws

5)Spray bung or lid with sanitizer again

6) Close lid or bung

6) take reading

It is less than 30 seconds from the time the lid is removed until it is closed again.

Probably less if you have help. And unless a bird flies in your place and lets go with some poop, you should be okay.

just wanted to add:

7) drink or dump sample down sink...do not return to fermenter

 

[shanecb]

Yeah.. I think brew balls are fine if you just want to see how a fermentation is progressing, but not for accuracy.

 

[HI_SALENITY]

Hydrometers are fairly cheap and they're glass so they're easily sanitized. Can anybody think of a reason why leaving a hydrometer in primary is a bad idea? I'm thinking it could be dropped in the primary once the krausen falls that way it doesn't get gunked up. It could also be left in secondary to see if any additional points come off the beer.

It may be an issue in a glass carboy with the risk of shattering, but there is no risk of that in a better bottle or plastic fermenter. It would be so much easier to monitor final gravity toward the end of the brew without pulling multiple samples and disturbing the beer.

I have done this several times, just wait until the krausin is gone and drop it in slowly and carefully as it will want to hit the bottom of the carboy.

It can be a pain because it is NEVER facing the way you want it and it can get "trapped" on the contour of the carboy and not read correctly.

I now just use a thief.

 

[pwndabear]

7) drink sample...do not return to fermenter

I fixed it for you.

 

[Gfei]

Bubbles could form on it too and make it float more, throwing off the reading. Save up your pennies for one of these (I want one!): http://fermonitor.com/

Maybe a bit off topic, but does anyone know what principle the fermonitor uses for density measurement??

Just curious, I've bean toying with the idea of building something like this of my own. I'm trying to decide what type of sensor I need to fabricate (thinking thermal mass flow for now). Didn't even realize there was a product available already for homebrewers (guess I should have known).


Chris

 

[bsdx]

Brew Balls are awesome, but I highly doubt they were designed by a brewer because there is a big difference between a beer at 1.020 and one at 1.010. That's just too big a gap right in the area where most beers finish. It could be 1.019 or it could be 1.011... who knows. They were able to use a .005 increment from 1.010 to 1.005 so they should get rid of the 1.055 and throw a 1.015 in there.

Apparently you can order them with custom gravities so you could concentrate more on the low end or something too. I bought a standard set but I just plan on using it for the next apfelwein or something where I'm usually too lazy to check the gravity, no krausen, and it actually will go down to 1.000 or lower.

 

[DrawTap88]

Bubbles could form on it too and make it float more, throwing off the reading. Save up your pennies for one of these (I want one!): http://fermonitor.com/

OT: Boy does that look cool.

 

[Zamial]

My 0.02...

If you want to leave a hydrometer in the fermenter get these: http://www.brewballstore.com/

Not only do these do what you want, they are designed for it. You wouldn't use a socket wrench for a hammer would you? The right tool for the job makes life easy...

 

[soundsandsuds]

Seems like the Brewballs would at least allow you to wait until the fermentation was in the right ballpark before you start opening the fermenter to take samples to check the precise gravity.

 

[Laughing_Gnome_Invisible]

I don't leave my hydro in my bucket for pretty much the same reason that I don't leave a condom on my junk. It might seem convenient for the next time you want to use it, but it gets all cruddy and won't work properly.

Any crud sticking to the hydro is going to put it's accuracy off whack.

 

[Hermit]

I also wonder how much crap would stick to the 'brew balls'.

 

[rosevillain]

Because you can't drink the sample...

 

[DoctorHops]

"...dump sample down sink."

Real brewers drink, they don't dump. :^)=

 

[dfc]

Bubbles could form on it too and make it float more, throwing off the reading. Save up your pennies for one of these (I want one!): http://fermonitor.com/

The instrument conveniently interfaces with a PC