New Hydrometer

[Romex2121]

Ordered a new Hydrometer set from Amazon that came in a couple days ago , ive never used one so i didnt really know what kind of features to watch for, I bought one that had like 600 good reviews. Anyway the tube on this thing is 250 ml. Its huge and it takes just about a whole 12 ounce beer to fill it up to the line and since ive only been making 1 gal at a time so far so i cant test my FG 2 and 3 times to see if fermentation is done and ready to bottle yet without losing a lot of the beer in the 1 gal carboy if i dispose of test each time....
Can i buy a smaller tube with the Hydrometer i have or are they set to a certain level meaning this hydrometer will only work with the tube it came with ??

 

[ncbrewer]

You can use whatever it fits in. It just needs to float freely, without touching the sides.

 

[Redpappy]

If you don’t mind spending a few extra dollars, you could get a wine thief... sanitize it, draw your sample, sanitize hydrometer, test, then put beer back.

I have not done this yet, but has crossed my mind a time it two.

 

[Romex2121]

Ive thought about doing it as Well but was afraid something would go wrong and id have to start over again ..lol ..

 

[Romex2121]

Air lock isnt going as strong as it was maybe once every 10 min. But Ive still got a few bubbles coming to the surface so i dont think its ready yet ( 2 weeks) but it would be nice to take a few test ...
Thanks for the info on the tube, that puts my mind at ease that anything can be used with the meter .....

 

[Smellyglove]

No. Don't put beer back in. Get a smaller sampling-tube.

Drink the sample, get to know how it tastes at different stages, it's good for training and becoming a better brewer.

 

[balrog]

Some folks will go to using refractometer for this reason of large % of small batch required to measure with hydrometer. It is not perfect but will directionally let you know when fermentation has stopped lowering SG as it will stop decreasing, and it only takes a drop or 3.

Now about bubbles still rising, that can just be the yeast cake releasing trapped co2, reduction in atmospheric pressure or increase in temp causing CO2 to come out of solution (the beer in which it's dissolved). At two weeks, for a std OG (1.045-55ish) beer, it is almost certainly done.

 

[Romex2121]

I had thought about a refractometer when i bought the other but i wanted to get the basics under controll first and then as i progressed id pick up other equipment..
This is the second 1 gal batch ive done so far , the first pale ale came out nice ...
At some point 5 gal AG batches are in my future , been slowly getting things together for it ....

 

[sixt3]

Some folks will go to using refractometer for this reason of large % of small batch required to measure with hydrometer. It is not perfect but will directionally let you know when fermentation has stopped lowering SG as it will stop decreasing, and it only takes a drop or 3.

Would this model be 'good enough' for home brew use?
https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B07PPZWCL5...&pd_rd_r=d66448ed-7e5f-11e9-b0f3-5fc5494b71c2

 

[Oginme]

My gravity test sample either gets sampled or is used to top off the last bottle I fill. This bottle becomes the first test bottle for carbonation so it is never around for more than a couple of weeks.

 

[Smellyglove]

I had thought about a refractometer when i bought the other but i wanted to get the basics under controll first and then as i progressed id pick up other equipment..
This is the second 1 gal batch ive done so far , the first pale ale came out nice ...
At some point 5 gal AG batches are in my future , been slowly getting things together for it ....

One simple "fix" to this is to just let it sit and let the yeast do its work. If you have pitched properly and had a good temperature, there should not be any extra reasons for you to sample, besides getting an FG reading. But this implies that you know what you do and know the yeast. Rule of thumb for beginners is the two-week rule for a straight ale-yeast. Nobody messes that up unless they go 565 or other funny clowns, which can trick you. Other than this I'd say brew bigger batches so you can afford the samples, but still, in a smaller tube. You only need a tube which is "just" big enough.

 

[purplerat]

If you've brewed before without using a hydrometer then you probably already have a good sense of when fermentation is done so there's really no need to take more than one FG reading. Just wait until you would normally assume fermentation is done and ready to bottle and take a sample then to get your FG. If you want you can bottle the sample with only the risk of contaminating 1 bottle.

 

[camonick]

Air lock isnt going as strong as it was maybe once every 10 min. But Ive still got a few bubbles coming to the surface so i dont think its ready yet ( 2 weeks) but it would be nice to take a few test ...
Thanks for the info on the tube, that puts my mind at ease that anything can be used with the meter .....

If it’s a “normal” gravity ale at room temperature or just below and it’s been 2 weeks, fermentation is most likely complete. The bubbles rising to the top are probably just CO2 off-gassing from the yeast cake.

 

[grampamark]

If it's been said once it's been said a thousand times, but it bears repeating-bubbles in the airlock are for entertainment purposes only.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

This is another reply that will suggest getting a refractometer for your one gallon batches. The hydrometer sample can serve three purposes: FG reading, tasting sample, and help with "dailing in" the refractometer conversion factors.

At some point 5 gal AG batches are in my future , been slowly getting things together for it ....

The moment you get frustrated with packaging volume with a one gallon carboy, consider moving very quickly to 5 gallon batches. I can see where optimizing packaging volume with one gallon carboys can be useful if one is going to ferment in only one gallon carboys. For my "test batches", two gallon food grade pails yield a 12-pack at packaging time.

 

[kh54s10]

If you get a refractometer, note that you need to make corrections for the presence of alcohol. The reading will not be right straight from viewing. But if you don't care to know the actual FG, you can take 2 readings to look for stable/done. There are online correction calculators.

For one gallon batches I would either use a refractometer or go by time and visual. If I saw good fermentation, I would allow at least 2 weeks, give a taste and if it tasted good I would go ahead and bottle. In my 107 batches I have only had one stalled fermentation. Determined that one with hydrometer - at 2+ weeks it was still at 1.030. A little swirling and another week allowed it to finish.

 

[ncbrewer]

In my 107 batches I have only had one stalled fermentation. Determined that one with hydrometer - at 2+ weeks it was still at 1.030. A little swirling and another week allowed it to finish.

I had something similar a few months ago. Not stuck, but took longer than usual to finish - 29 days. That was the only one like it in 166 batches. But since bottle bombs can be really dangerous, I still check gravity at least twice and make sure it's stable before bottling.

 

[Alex4mula]

Get a high definition hydrometer. Basically scale is larger and easier to read. I drink all my samples from wort to keg