Hydrometer reading

[StevieR]

I always sanitise my hydrometer and place it in the fermenter prior to adding the yeast. I leave it in there until I transfer the beer/lager to keg or bottles...this saves a lot of time when I monitor the SG throughout the process.

[daveyk]

I always sanitise my hydrometer and place it in the fermenter prior to adding the yeast. I leave it in there until I transfer the beer/lager to keg or bottles...this saves a lot of time when I monitor the SG throughout the process.

Yes I've heard of this.... thought about trying it but does the head get in the way? or are you more bothered about readings after the head has subsided?

Dave.

[MightyMouth]

No reason to read it while the head is still there as its will still be fermenting.

[Doug]

I never sanitized my hydrometer, or trials jar for the simple reason to stop any posibility of it contaminating the baby I drink it, it's the safest method I have found.

I usually do 5 or 6 draws per batch of 5 gallon so 360ml will not be missed.

[Minus The Bear]

you have a 60ml trial jar? the only one i ever found was 100ml, it was in wilko's though!

[vacant]

the only one i ever found was 100ml, it was in wilko's though!

Handy tip: I only need to fill my wilko's trial jar with 80ml to float my hydrometer, thus saving 20ml each time

[brewbie]

No reason to read it while the head is still there as its will still be fermenting.

Will there still be some bubbles/ head on it when it finishes or will it be clear

[MightyMouth]

The head should be gone, or at least mostly gone, enough that you can read the hydrometer.

[booldawg]

I leave mine in a bottle of bleach/water solution. Not ideal as I think the bleach breaks down after a few days and as Doug points out, no matter how many times I rinse it I worry about the contamination as I dont own a trial jar.

Gone are the days when I check the SG every day from when the head subsides. I generally do my first check on day 5 and then maybe a few days later just to make sure its not sticking. Its usually about 10 days until its finished but I'm guilty of rushing the beer into bottles. I aim to keep it in the primary FV for 14 days. As long as I get an OG and TG as I do like to know what the ABV is!

[Minus The Bear]

I keep my hydrometer in a bottle of Sodium Metabisulphite solution, so from a lazy point of view i don't need to sanitize it.

I think that was a tip i took from Daab's kit making instructions.

[brewbie]

Daab, what do you think to leaving it in the brew as mentioned above?

[brewbie]

Yep, wait until the yeast head has subsided though.

Cheers