Hydrometer Use

[benchharp]

Hi. Again, just getting into my 6th or 7th brew and i've finally invested in a hydrometer.

I took a reading once dispensed into my fermentation vessel. It came out at roughly 1.060 against a target of 1.077.

I'm fermenting in a spiedel 12l fermenter with about 9l of liquid.

I've seen the odd bubble in the airlock but nowhere near what i would expect. I'm suspecting there ay be an air leak somewhere.

Two questions:

Is the leak going to harm my batch?

How can i tell when the ferment is done /if it is indeed active?

My guess for the latter is to take a new hydrometer reading. If it is lower than the initial reading then it the yeast is active. If it is at the target FV of 1.009 then it is complete. Does this sound correct?

Thanks for all your assistance.

[McMullan]

I've never known an hydrometer to be that far out, but you can check that it reads 1.000 in water at the temperature it was calibrated - usually 25℃. You might have to consider your brewing process. It can take a day or two, sometimes longer, for primary activity to take off. Which yeast did you pitch? It doesn't matter if the FV isn't completely sealed during primary fermentation. If the airlock float is floating, it's sealed. If it sinks it's not. In my experience the lids on the 12L Speidel FVs need to be done up quite tightly. Primary fermentation is said to be done when gravity remains unchanged - at or close to the expected FG - for a few days. In reality fermentation slows down considerably once ethanol reaches about 5%, depending on the yeast strain pitched. It's best to leave it alone for a week or so.

[benchharp]

Thanks. It was quite a stressful brew day to be honest so there's definitely room for improvement.

With regards to the hydrometer i decanted 100ml into the beaker and then dropped in the hydrometer - with that in the level was obviously slightly above 100ml. I assume that is correct. At the time of reading i wasn't 100% sure how to use the apparatus so the reading was definitely between 60 and 70 but i didn't get an exact reading. i'll pay more attention in the future.

[Kev888]

The amount of wort in the trial jar isn't very important 'provided' there is more than enough for the hydrometer to float comfortably (we have had false readings reported that were traced to it sitting on the bottom of the jar). The temperature of the wort should be at around the calibration temperature of the hydrometer (if it is warmer then the hydrometer will read lower than it should, and visa versa).

As McMullan says, test the hydrometer in plain water (again at the correct temperature) to check it reads 1.000. But I too have never known them to be anything like that amount out, so the chances are that your original gravity was indeed somewhat lower than aimed for. Which (as a small silver lining) is already showing the benefit of being able to measure the gravity

[WalesAles]

bench,
Fill your trial jar to the brim. Drop in the the Hydrometer, blow off any excess bubbles, take a reading.
You mention a beaker, what exactly are you dropping your Hydro into?

WA

Sent from my Sofa.

[Jocky]

I would add - don't drop a hydrometer into hot liquid. It can cause the glass to expand (or crack) and the paper scale inside falls out of place making it useless.