The hydrometer tag has no wiki summary.
17
votes
3answers
1k views
How Does a Hydrometer Work?
I know how to use my hydrometer, and I know what numbers to look at and write down on my brewing sheets, but I'm not sure what those numbers actually represent, or even what units I should use to ...
15
votes
5answers
1k views
Alternatives to a hydrometer?
I can't seem to keep a hydrometer for more than a few brewing sessions. They either break from dropping them, going from hot to cold, or I've had the wax holding all of the lead pellets to the bottom ...
7
votes
7answers
355 views
Cure for foamy hydrometer?
Whenever I take a SG reading with my hydrometer I have a hard time getting an accurate reading because of a few mm of foam at the surface. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to get rid of the ...
7
votes
3answers
152 views
Why shouldn't we just use scales?
New on homebrew.SE, great forum here. Just a quick question - why shouldn't we just use weight scales to determine the OG and FG? My Hydrometer has broken and I can't be stuffed really buying a new ...
7
votes
2answers
139 views
Sterilisation processes when taking hydrometer readings
When taking hydrometer readings, is it acceptable to return liquid to the fermenting vessel after taking a reading in a vial? Must the vial/measuring cylinder and hydrometer have been sterilised to ...
6
votes
2answers
226 views
Why measure gravities?
I've brewed a good dozen batches of beer from kits, extract, extract+grain, and now all-grain, and I've never measured gravities. Why measure gravity, besides to know what you're getting? Is there any ...
6
votes
1answer
159 views
Can the final gravity be multiplied by the ratio of beer to water?
If one ends-up with, say, half as much beer as needed to float the hydrometer, is dilution a viable way to get a measurement?
For instance, if one carefully measured the volume of available beer ...
6
votes
1answer
352 views
Calculating the exact alcohol volume
Using a hydrometer is great for most people, but the geek in me would like to know the exact alcohol content of my brew.
What would be the process, titration? And what chemicals would I need?
6
votes
3answers
260 views
Hydrometer Temperature Limit
I am about to do my first all-grain batch. After (batch) sparging is it safe to drop the hydrometer right in or do I need to let the wort cool to a specific temperature first? I realize I will have to ...
6
votes
6answers
321 views
First batch tragedies?
Brewed my very first batch today. It is a stout and is sitting in my basement as I type. I would call the day a success--a whole lot more work than I thought. Hopefully only two things went wrong:
...
5
votes
2answers
252 views
Hydrometer reading
I am getting ready to dry hop and transfer a Double IPA to a secondary Better Bottle. If I want to take a hydrometer reading at this time is it better to use a thief or just put the hydrometer in the ...
4
votes
1answer
63 views
Hydrometer correction equation
Can you identify the constants in your hydrometer correction equation? I know that 2.6X10-6 is the coefficient of thermal expansion for the hydrometer glass; what are the others (not related to ...
3
votes
2answers
257 views
Potential causes of unreliable pre-boil gravity measurement
I usually take a hydrometer reading immediately after sparge so that I can calculate total points of gravity (i.e. gravity reading * volume), and from there calculate what volume of wort I should ...
3
votes
1answer
773 views
My first homebrew has a very low alcohol content
I just finished my first homebrew (yay!), but my hydrometer is reading a very low alcohol content. I brewed an Edme bitter (pre-made wort and I bought the malt extract) and it tastes great, but it's ...
3
votes
3answers
288 views
Any reason not to lower a hydrometer into my secondary?
Is there any reason not to simply lower a hydrometer into my carboy during secondary fermentation, so that I can monitor gravity just by peeking in with a flashlight?
I'm thinking about doing this ...
3
votes
1answer
105 views
Does trub effect your gravity reading?
took a gravity reading today at the end of the transfer from the kettle and there was quite a bit of trub in the cylinder, like the whole flip'n tube. so would the trub hold the hydrometer up and give ...
2
votes
2answers
99 views
Hydrometer Calibration and its effect on OG
I tested my hydrometer in distilled water at 68F and it reads 0.994.
If I have an original gravity reading of 1.050 do I simply add .006 to this reading or is there a more advanced formula to ...
2
votes
2answers
383 views
Fermentation Issues???
Fermentation Help
I have need some thoughts on what I should do with this batch of beer. I am brewing a clone kit which is called Belgium Wit. The directions were a little off based on the equipment ...
2
votes
2answers
105 views
should I/how do I account for temperature differences for gravity readings?
I've taken my OG at the start, and another reading last night. Only last night did I register that my OG seemed slightly low according to what the brew can suggested as typical.
My OG was 1.037 (can ...
1
vote
3answers
177 views
Hydrometer reading interference
When brewing an IPA about a week ago, my starting gravity reading came out to be 1.12 - significantly higher than the listed target of 1.07 on the recipe. I had suspicions of error at the time which I ...
1
vote
2answers
78 views
Expected Hydrometer Reading for White House Honey Ale?
A bit of background:
This is my second beer batch. My first beer batch turned out well as an Irish Stout, using the Midwest Brewing kit and recipie
I just started a White House Honey Ale I'm ...
1
vote
1answer
138 views
Hydrometer exploded
I'm really worry, I made a wort some hours ago, and right now I see that my hydrometer is broken in the bottom, the last time I used it was in the hot wort previous to boiling, and it seems like some ...
1
vote
1answer
247 views
Can I retroactively deterimine my OG with a refractometer?
Brewed a big Belgian beer last week. And using my refractometer (poorly, as it turns out), I wasn't able to get a solid reading of the OG.
Now a week later I've taken a sample of the beer and want to ...
