how to use a hydrometer for newbies

[jdrum]

just sanatize before you put it in and leave it till its right. you would run more risk taking them out a putting them back, waving them around in all this foul air is sure to contaminate somethin.
no problem just leave them in,
have you been to the gold camp yet this year

jim

 

[bhmjones]

Vance??????????? Wow. We're practically next door neighbors....... and no, I haven't made it to the camp yet..... but certainly desire to soon as possible..... do you ever go there?

 

[jdrum]

i used to work that area about 18 yrs a go. ran a bank route and had 6hrs layover in the general atea so did a lot of digging and looking all over that area
wish my health and resorces would let me get back into prospecting. i know a lot more now than i did back then (RESEARCH)

jim

 

[barryjo]

Just a minor point. A hydrometer does NOT measure the weight of the fluid. It gives a reading of density as compared to water.
Also, using water at the stated temperature (usually 60 degrees) is how you can check the calibration . Should register 1.000.

 

[sully]

my wine is at .986 fermented for 7 days why is reading so low seems to extreme of a reading

 

[barryjo]

my wine is at .986 fermented for 7 days why is reading so low seems to extreme of a reading

WOW!!! Is it possible you have a defective hydrometer??
If it is not drinkable, maybe you could run it in your car.

 

[shanek17]

so i have been using my hydrometer for months now and have been getting aquainted with it. And im finally getting around to asking this question. when using a hydrometer you want to take a sample at a temperature that is equal to your hydrometer calibaration. so im wondering if that means the environment needs to be the correct temperature or does the actualy wine liquid need to be correct. i have been using a thermometer to measure my room temp and taking SG samples based on my rooms temperature. Like rite now i have my air conditoner running in the wine room and getting it to my hydros calibration which is 68degrees. which is fine since thats a comfortable temp for me in the summer. But then i took a temperature of my wine sample and its warmer by alot. the room is at 65 and the wine is still warm at 75.7 degrees.

I guess what i really need is a temperature conversion chart. but everytime i find one its for hydros calibrated at 60 degrees! does anyone have one for 68? it would be nice to write it down and have it on hand. my hydrometer came with some temp conversions but there pretty lame because they only give a couple examples.

 

[cpfan]

Shane...most hydrometers come with an instruction sheet. The conversion chart is usually on that piece of paper.

There are online calculators that do the calculation for you. I recall one that allows you to specify the calibration temp. Since I don't use them, I can't point you to one.

If worst comes to worst, buy another hydrometer the same as what you have. A spare hydrometer is always a good thing.

Steve

 

[shanek17]

Shane...most hydrometers come with an instruction sheet. The conversion chart is usually on that piece of paper.

There are online calculators that do the calculation for you. I recall one that allows you to specify the calibration temp. Since I don't use them, I can't point you to one.

If worst comes to worst, buy another hydrometer the same as what you have. A spare hydrometer is always a good thing.

Steve

yea as i said cpfan i did get a paper with a couple examples of temperatures but not very many. I would like a coversion chart with a bunxh of different temperatures to choose from, since temperatures can greatly differ. I did find a online calculator and tried it out. but it would be nice to have a physical chart or even a formula to use for a 68 degree calibrated hydrometer.

i actually just tested my hydrometer for calibration. and i used my digital thermometer and got the water temperature to 68.5 which is close enough to 68 and my hydrometer is reading 1.006! Its supposed to be at 1.00 rite?! like is it normal for hydros to be of abit? i try to take care of it but admittingly the hydro has been banged around some. but now im wondering why its reading higher, and maybe my wines that iv been waiting to finish fermenting are done afterall...

But since i found out my new calibration temperature is 1.006 can i just use that as my hydrometers calibration temp? i will evetually get a new hydrometer but for now i got just this one and wines that may be closer to dry than i thought!

 

[barryjo]

@ shanek17: How did you verify the digital? I ask because my experience shows readings from different thermometers can vary greatly.
It is the wine temp you are checking. Room temp doesn't matter. The temp corrections used in winemaking are about .001 for every 7 degrees. So I wouldn't be concerned about 2-3 degrees. Our hydrometers can be read accurately to about 1/2 a tick. And since the ticks are equal to .002, anything else is guesswork. The instruction sheet that came with my hydrometer uses the example of must temp at 84 deg F. The correction is 3. That is, .003 on the scale.

 

[shanek17]

@ shanek17: How did you verify the digital? I ask because my experience shows readings from different thermometers can vary greatly.
It is the wine temp you are checking. Room temp doesn't matter. The temp corrections used in winemaking are about .001 for every 7 degrees. So I wouldn't be concerned about 2-3 degrees. Our hydrometers can be read accurately to about 1/2 a tick. And since the ticks are equal to .002, anything else is guesswork. The instruction sheet that came with my hydrometer uses the example of must temp at 84 deg F. The correction is 3. That is, .003 on the scale.

i checked the digital using boiling water and its very accurate. yea i understand now that the temperatures dont have a great effect on the hydrometer. im just surprised and dissapointed that my hydrometer is calibrated to 68 and yet i test it and its actually calibrated to 1.006. which is a big difference. iv had some batches that iv been thinking were stuck and now i realize they are actually more dry than i thought. Whether or not it was me that banged up the hydro and its calibration or if it was manufactured that way, i do not know. i should have checked the calibration when i first got it!

 

[sfoss]

Thank you guys for this great sticky. I have made wine before, with alot of help and this was the first time I am making this on my own. You have really helped me to not be afraid of the hydrometer! Hugs!

 

[PrincessVintah]

I'm with Shelly! ThankYouThankYouThankYou! Thank you for sharing this info.

 

[astrologica]

Just found this. Thank you.

 

[shanek17]

Just found this. Thank you.

Wow this threads gettin alot of thank yous now! If you all want to watch a helpful hydrometer video go to youtube to craigtube and find his hydrometer video. His video is the best! i would post the video directly if i wasnt on my cell phone.

 

[maywissa]

Thank you!

Thanks for this, however, I'm still worried about our gallon of Sauvignon that's reading 0.98 on an Alla Hydrometer (been fermenting for 21 days so far).

I don't understand why there are two different ranges for wine: one at the top of the hydrometer (where I'm sitting right now) and one at the bottom (desert wine or table wine). I thought mine would score at the table wine section?

 

[cpfan]

maywissa....

First, I suspect that your reading is actually .998 not .980. Regardless, anything below 1.000 means that fermentation is basically complete, as it should be after 21 days.

Second, you ask about the sections on the ALLA hydrometer. I am looking at my ALLA hydrometer (but know that they make several models). A reading of .998 is in the WINE section, and means (to me) that the wine is finished. The Table Wine and Dessert Wine sections are both above 1.060. These are starting specific gravity readings, and are actually kinda meaningless (at least to me).

Steve

 

[vernsgal]

Thanks for the pic. I've done a lot of kit wines and sometimes got my readings muddled ( Old age sometimes does that to you, Lol) Printed the pic and now if I have a senior's moment I just do a recheck.

 

[Tonio6vt]

Hello Jamie,

I am a french student and the subject of your post is exactly what I try to understand! For my master research, I realize an online survey to understand european consumer habits when people buy wine.

It ‘s anonym and it takes you less than 5 minutes. It will be very kind of people to answer it.
The more answers I would collect, the more reliable would be the survey.

To answer it, follow this link:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...ue&formkey=dFB2ZXBnV0pmdkNpUHItcFFOQnpIU2c6MQ

Many thanks in advance!
Antoine

 

[lloyd1900]

I am new to wine making and have a question. During the primary fermentation (aerobic) I understand the yeast is consuming the sugar but not making alcohol so the SG will be going down but without the alcohol? Is that correct?
Because of this I have been measuring the SG again just before I put into demijon and start of the anaerobic fermentation (when yeast does convert sugar to alcohol). I have added sugar at this stage to get the SG to 1.100.
I think I must be wrong as I seem to be adding a lot of sugar.
Main question therefore is - is the starting SG the SG of the must or the SG just before it is added to the demijon with airlock?
Many thanks for help