Hydrometer...does anyone....

[Robin54]

Does anyone just leave it floating in their FV for the duration??

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I have seen members discuss this in the past and some do.

 

[MyQul]

I tried it once but it got covered in krausen crud and then I couldnt read it

 

[ericmark]

In the Young's screw cap fermentor it is hard to see the hydrometer and so very early on I decided I needed to extract beer to test and put in in a tall jar. Even with a large clip on top the foam on the beer stops one easy reading the hydrometer.

My early thoughts were to use the same system as used to measure battery acid. Having the hydrometer in a pipette seemed the easy way out. I bought a cheap anti-freeze hydrometer and idea was to re-calibrate it to show when ready to bottle. However I then found the flaw. Bubbles. With a beer hydrometer you need to spin the hydrometer to remove bubbles sticking to its side, in the pipette you can't spin the hydrometer so you get a faulty reading.

I still use the pipette to transfer beer into a vase designed for a single rose to then float the hydrometer in it, and the pipette allows me to suck off the bubbles on the top of the sample, but because you need to spin the hydrometer to read it, rather pointless leaving it in the fermentor.

I have looked at other anti-freeze hydrometers with balls which float or sink to show if enough anti-freeze. If one was making the same brew every time I suppose one could make a float which will sink once ready to bottle. However if making the same brew every time, and using temperature control, it will take about the same time to brew, so I simply wait 20 days the the hydrometer only confirms what I already know. So I just use the hydrometer once with most brews. I have made them before so I know start reading and I know what the finish reading should be, so the hydrometer just confirms it has actually fermented and has not stuck.

 

[Fil]

you should be ok as long as you dont use heat to sanitise the hydrometer, the heat from hot water can weaken/melt the glue holding the gradient tube in place and then a slight nudge or jar can shift the tube rendering the hydrometer inaccurate.

kraussen and yeast deposits clinging to the neck will obscure the scale making it tricky to read.

But most importantly you will miss out on the opportunity to drink and taste the progress of any gravity samples you draw off to test.

 

[Brett74]

I have just bought a refractometer as I am new and very curious to track the progress of fermentation, while I realise the alcohol present will give me inacurate readings, it will let me track the trend and then when that has flattened I can use a hydrometer to get an accurate FG, although I will miss the samples...:lol: