Mosti Mondiale Starting #4

[ibglowin]

A Hygrometer should be used as nothing more then a rough estimate. Its a what $7 piece of equipment?

It's a cheap way to tell at a glance how your fermentation is going, that's it.

You will not be able to taste the difference in a wine that finishes at .998 vs .994.

Now for those that really, really want to know your SG/Brix and have the $$ to spend you can always pick up a Digital Refractometer and take all the guess work out of it.

 

[vcasey]

Hydrometer reading @ 990 are common for me and I plan many for my fruit wines to go dry, especially if I plan on splitting the batch to play. I've also had wines ferment to dry, both kit and my own creations in 4 days most finish in 10-14 days, but there are always exceptions. Keep in mind I usually will make a starter and always rehydrate the yeast and I think that really helps the process. Just remember the hydrometers and the kit instructions are simply guides and the days given are estimates.
As far as the hydrometer differences, we have 3 and all read differently. I just put the other 2 away and don't worry about it.

 

[RickC]

If I'm not mistaken, isn't the SG of water0.998 at 70F, not 1.0? Also, since ABV is calculated by the differencebetween beginning and ending SG,using a single hydrometer should "somewhat" compensate forthe offset.

 

[ibglowin]

Here is a good chart of Water -Temperature and Specific Gravity

There are a range of temps for each SG. If the Hydrometer scale is accurate and you take into account the temperature of the substance being measured (and correct for the difference between that and what the Hydrometer was calibrated at) you should have a fairly accurate result.

Or good enough for Government work as they say in some circles.....

 

[v1rotate]

This application is an easy way to take the temperature into consideration. Just select the "alcohol" tab and plug in the beginning/ending SG readings and the corresponding temperatures and you get ABV.

 

[Randoneur]

This application is an easy way to take the temperature into consideration. Just select the "alcohol" tab and plug in the beginning/ending SG readings and the corresponding temperatures and you get ABV.

I like that one too. It's downloadable so you don't have to be online to use it.