Gravity via kitchen scales

[Jokester]

I'm calculating 500ml and 516 gm. How accurate is my measurement. Will check via hydrometer shortly. So 1.03 and this is mead, lets see how close the hydrometer vs scales vs refractometer turn up.
Cool.
Srinath.

 

[Jokester]

Hydrometer says 1.05 and refractometer is over 70% - wildly inaccurate scales, refractometer is messed up due to alcohol in it. This is far far far from the 1.00 I would even hope it gets well under that. .978 I believe is 0 sugar.

Cool.
Srinath.

 

[bucketnative]

How accurate is your volumetric measurement? I would not rely on a kitchen measuring cup as an accurate volumetric measure.

How accurate is your scale?

I would stick with the hydrometer, especially since change in gravity over time is most important in brewing/fermentation. You can verify the accuracy of your hydrometer easily with standard sugar solutions (assuming you have an accurate scale).

 

[Jokester]

Yup, its pretty much error on top of error on top of error.
The sucker is sweet enough to pass for just honey water. Its alcohol is tasting, sour a little, but dayummmm its sweet enough to stick to the wall if you tossed it against one.
Cool.
Srinath.

 

[Gnomebrewer]

Yup, its pretty much error on top of error on top of error.

Yep, absolutely. The big potential for error that stands out to me is the volume measurement. I wouldn't trust any kitchen jugs or the like, and even lab glassware like conicals and beakers aren't suitable for precise volume measurement. I'd have a bit more faith in a volumetric flask (at the correct temperature) and a good old triple beam balance. But of course, a hydrometer is the right tool for the job!

 

[McKnuckle]

Best to use a simple combination of weight and gravity. 516g divided by 1.05 = 491mL. You're not going to be able to discern the difference between 491mL and 500mL visually.

 

[Jokester]

Hydrometer will tell you, that's the truth, all this is simply beating the dead horse that's attempting to reinvent the wheel.

But, back in the days of chem lab we used to have a little bottle with a tight fitting log glass tube with a tapered hole ending in a capillary. It was called a pycnometer. Fill it, plug it and dry the top and it was exact volume with very very low error due to the capillary.

https://www.schoolspecialty.com/eis...SzLsw8CiOut0Or3Asg9ZPVcHH39r7FssaAm5pEALw_wcB

Yeaaaaayyyy I still remember irrelevant bs. But then again my scale could well be 10gm off which in 500 gm is only 2% but makes a huge difference.

Cool.
Srinath.