sg??

[Heavy Drinker]

Hello all, I am new to this brewing lark, in fact I only just started my second kit on Wednesday which seemed to get off to a pretty quick start yeast wise as 7 hours later had gone mad and by Sat looked as though it had about stopped. I started off with a couple of cheapo kits to get my hand in. The one I am doing at the mo is Tom Caxton best bitter. I subsituted the sugar for beer kit enhancer. I took the first sg reading a couple of hours ago and it read 1200 which seems way off the mark. Is it? I cannot think of anything I have done wrong and followed the instructions from a link I found on this site (how to brew at 1800 feet or something of that nature) I had planned to leave it fermenting for 10 days which seems to be the recommended time from this forum.
What does that sg reading tell me??

[Andy]

>What does that sg reading tell me??

that your hydrometer is way off or you're not reading it correctly!

Really strong beers are in the 1060+ range, 1200 is off the scale


Sure you don't mean 1020 ?

[Garth]

I think you've just read your hydrometer wrong,

I'm assuming after 4/5 days it is reading 1020, which is fine, just leave it a few more days, maybe a week and you'll see it drop, leave it for your planned 10 days, possibly more, it won't harm anything leaving it longer to finish it's fermentation

18000ft are Daab's pages, which are a great guide, you can't go wrong following the instructions on there.

[Heavy Drinker]

Unsurprisingly, you could be correct. I think I am just reading it wrong. Again mine is only a cheap hydrometer, starts at the top 990 then goes up in increments of 2 to the next marked figure 1-000 then follows 10, 20, 30 etc etc (I'm sure I do not need to tell you this) and as the numbers below 1-000 are marked directly below the first zero I took this to read 1100, 1200 etc.
Still my reading falls outside of the little area marked in yellow and reading "bottle". Is this a problem if I were kegging now which I am not for another 6 days?

[Heavy Drinker]

I see you responce now Garth. Thanks for putting my mind at rest.

[james_m_r]

I had exactly the same problem reading my hydrometer first time around. When reading the instructions that came with it and also reading messages on this forum it did confuse me a bit but I must say, this has been a great help. I am looking at the instructions right now and at the bottom in big bold letters it says "do not bottle or keg untill hydrometer sinks below 1.006 or bottles will burst." Should I just throw these in the bin now?

[james_m_r]

in the bin they have gone.

[james_m_r]

somewhat easier to understand than the instructions that came with the hydrometer. I will have to keep a copy of that for the time being.

[Heavy Drinker]

ditto. thanks all.

[bitter_dave]

I've put a page on my website which might be usefull to bookmark

http://www.18000feet.com/how/hydroreading.htm

Nice work DaaB When I started brewing I had problems reading a hydrometer as well and can sympathise with the earlier messages; dammit, why can't homebrew stuff be provided with better better instructions

[prodigal2]

Nice work DaaB When I started brewing I had problems reading a hydrometer as well and can sympathise with the earlier messages; dammit, why can't homebrew stuff be provided with better better instructions

Yep B D I can second that.
The people that I feel sorry for are the brewers for whom English is not their first language. Like here in Spain as there are no translations. Actually scrap that comment they might stand a fighting chance, as they really arnt written in english either

[PieOPah]

What are all the coloured bands for?

I bought mine from Ebay when I first started brewing. I think it is an old boots hydrometer.

Mine just has a white strip with black markings. As well as the gravity readings there are estimated alcohol % markings. Not quite sure how I am supposed to read these though (so I don't)

[bitter_dave]

I recently broke the hydrometer I was using, which was as the one pictured by Daab with lots of different colours and information; being a simpleton I find the simple black and white one I now use (free with some some secondhand stuff) so much easier as I don't get confused by all the bright colours and random information

[Heavy Drinker]

PLEASE HELP. I have been taking daily hydro readings (see above posts) and have been noticing a drop of about 2 gravity points per day which means I was on course for a 1010 or therabouts fg as predicted by DaaB ready for kegging on Saturday. On previous reading I have left the Hydrometer in the wort for no longer than 60 seconds before taking a reading, and then drinking the contents of the test jar. However tonight I filled the test jar, dropped the hydrometer in (after 10 seconds it read 1010) and then took my son to bed before taking the reading (about 10 mins) and was surprised to see it reading 1020 on my return. What the bloody hell is that all about??
How long are you supposed to leave the hydro in before taking a reading?
Maybe that is a question I should have asked before hand. Please dont tell me I have made a major error and I have got to throw 40 pints down the sink.
Eagerly awaiting a responce.

[tubby_shaw]

Don't panic it's ok
All that has happened is that the CO2 has come out of solution and stuck as little bubbles onto the hydrometer forceing it to float higher so that it appears that the gravity has increased.
If it happens again just spin the hydrometer in the trial jar to get rid of the bubbles
Go on try it now and see, you'll get to drink the contents of the trial jar afterwards