Swell hydrometer any good for small beer?
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- Piss Artist
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- Joined: Sun Sep 16, 2018 8:56 am
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Swell hydrometer any good for small beer?
I struggle with reading my hydrometers due to poor eyesight, and was looking for specific beer ones that might have a more expanded scale. I didn't find any, but did find this: -
https://www.swelluk.com/swell-hydromete ... ewQAvD_BwE
Would it be any good for brewing? This would be for small beers only, 1040 or under.
https://www.swelluk.com/swell-hydromete ... ewQAvD_BwE
Would it be any good for brewing? This would be for small beers only, 1040 or under.
"The paradise of the rich is made out of the hell of the poor" - Victor Hugo
Re: Swell hydrometer any good for small beer?
I gave up with hydrometers years ago, even before eyesight made them difficult to read. Now use a pyknometer, and Tilt hydrometers (with a Raspberry Pi to display on a Web browser - sounds geeky but is very easy to do) for casual readings of fermenting beer (expensive). Pyknometers are very cheap, but require good weighing scales (not so cheap, but digital ones are getting cheaper these days): About £45-50 all up, but can measure the relative density of just about any not too thick liquid (thick liquids, like tar, need a different bottle) even some solids if you want too. And I'll use refractometers for really quick and dirty readings.
Pyknometers don't emulate (approximate) what a hydrometer does. Rather a hydrometer emulates what a pyknometer does. And pyknometers can be very (very!) accurate. It's just a type of bottle BTW.
No-one (i.e. turnip heads) should be thinking "get glasses" either. Just try spelling "saccadic intrusions" before looking them up.
Pyknometers don't emulate (approximate) what a hydrometer does. Rather a hydrometer emulates what a pyknometer does. And pyknometers can be very (very!) accurate. It's just a type of bottle BTW.
No-one (i.e. turnip heads) should be thinking "get glasses" either. Just try spelling "saccadic intrusions" before looking them up.
Cask-conditioned style ale out of a keg/Cornie (the "treatise"): https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwzEv5 ... rDKRMjcO1g
Water report demystified (the "Defuddler"; removes the nonsense!): https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/ ... sp=sharing
Water report demystified (the "Defuddler"; removes the nonsense!): https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/ ... sp=sharing
Re: Swell hydrometer any good for small beer?
You can get hydrometers with a smaller range and they are much easier to read, eg I have a finishing hydrometer that only reads between 1.020 and below. If you go that route you will probably need to buy two or three to cover the full range.
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- Piss Artist
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- Joined: Sun Sep 16, 2018 8:56 am
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Re: Swell hydrometer any good for small beer?
All those options look expensive, I think I'll stick with what I've got and my magnifying glass ![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
"The paradise of the rich is made out of the hell of the poor" - Victor Hugo
Re: Swell hydrometer any good for small beer?
You can get, "narrow range hydrometers" or "precision brewing hydrometer"
Such as....
Bigger Jugs Hydrometer - Stevenson-Reeves Precision Single Scale for Wine & Beer Accurate & Easy to Read Range 0.98 to 1.070 https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07B17MM48/ ... 9ETCRNZ6SW
For starting sg, you could consider a refractometer
Both about £15
Such as....
Bigger Jugs Hydrometer - Stevenson-Reeves Precision Single Scale for Wine & Beer Accurate & Easy to Read Range 0.98 to 1.070 https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07B17MM48/ ... 9ETCRNZ6SW
For starting sg, you could consider a refractometer
Both about £15
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- Piss Artist
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- Joined: Sun Sep 16, 2018 8:56 am
- Location: Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire
Re: Swell hydrometer any good for small beer?
Already got both those Mashbag - it's new eyes I need ![Sad :(](./images/smilies/icon_sad.gif)
![Sad :(](./images/smilies/icon_sad.gif)
"The paradise of the rich is made out of the hell of the poor" - Victor Hugo
Re: Swell hydrometer any good for small beer?
Could you paint small marks to make it easier to see? (& yes I can already hear "contamination" and "extra weight" in the replies
)
![😁](http://cdn.jsdelivr.net/emojione/assets/3.1/png/64/1f601.png)
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- Piss Artist
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- Joined: Sun Sep 16, 2018 8:56 am
- Location: Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire
Re: Swell hydrometer any good for small beer?
I checked my hydrometers and I haven't got that one you linked to Mashbag, so I'll give that a try. Cheaper though if you buy direct from Bigger Jugs than Amazon - at least it is at the moment.
"The paradise of the rich is made out of the hell of the poor" - Victor Hugo
Re: Swell hydrometer any good for small beer?
Bigger Jugs had appeared for me a few times lately. Seem to be a good crowd.
- soupdragon
- Under the Table
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Re: Swell hydrometer any good for small beer?
Good price at Bigger Jugs, what looks like the exact same one is £14 at the Malt Miller
Cheers Tom
Cheers Tom