Newbie Help - Hydrometer Reading

[deneed4spd]

I am 17 days into fermentation. Already racked from primary into secondary at day 7. Been in secondary for 10 days. I just took a hydrometer but not sure if my wine is finished fermenting. It shows right at 100. Not sure what this means because people say wait till the fermentation is at .996. How do you even measure the .004 difference?

 

[stickman]

Looks like .990 to me, it's probably complete. The long line is read as the number above, each smaller line is .002.

 

[user 32114]

dang the color of your wine looks divine
what kinda wine is that,
good luck
Dawg

 

[deneed4spd]

It's the LE Cabernet Grenache. I tasted it and it's still pretty sweet. Home it mellows out.

 

[salcoco]

your wine is done. as a fyi your hydrometer is calibrated for 60degF. there should be a chart with the hydrometer that indicates if you add or subtract based on temp to get an accurate number. regardless you are close enough for "government work" as we used to say for those that worked in the government. you are fine go forward with aging.

 

[Noontime]

The scale can be tough to figure out. 1.000 is about what water should measure. The majority of the numbers are below that mark and actually represent higher numbers in hundredths... so the 10 below measures 1.010 and the 20 is 1.020, etc. So these numbers will will be measured when the hydrometer is floating, meaning the liquid is more dense because it has sugar in it. Once the hydrometer sinks and gets below the 1.000, then that's when the numbers get lower than water because there's no sugar and more alcohol; so the 90 will be .990. So as Stickman and Sal said...you're done.

 

[Scooter68]

See the thread at the top of the beginners forum Sticky - How to use a hydrometer.

 

[Floandgary]

Allowing for the meniscus,, I'd record it as .991. For truer accuracy, consider your hydrometers calibration, temperature, and any other factors... Not so critical the actual number so much as the changes during the processes.