i make small batches of mead, i use 1 gallon glass carboys and 2 gallon brew buckets. can i take a reading from the carboys or buckets?
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hydrometer reading in glass carboy or brewing bucket
- Thread starter cataclysmicvariable
- Start date
Yes. I even drop my hydrometer into my 5 gallon bucket. Just be careful that your hydrometer's not touching the bottom of the bucket or, when you drop it into the carboy, that the liquid level is high enough that you can get your hydrometer back out. Also, make sure that your hydrometer's properly sanitized and you'll want to avoid breathing into your bucket or dropping anything into it.
I think that it depends on how full the fermenter is and how dense (the SG) is the liquid to be measured. When the gravity is high and the carboy or bucket has enough must or wine in it then there is no problem but if the density is dropping towards 1.000 and there is an inch of headroom getting the hydrometer out of a carboy may pose a challenge just as the length of the hydrometer may mean that it will be sitting on the floor of the bucket rather than being suspended, floating in the liquid...
I just use the tube my hydrometer came in to measure with. I thoroughly sanitize everything that will touch the must, pull a small sample out of the carboy with a thief, take my gravity reading, and then dump it back in.
I have been using SensorPush thermo-hygrometer for over a year, still no complaints.
In every case, the temperature and humidity readings were close to or exactly the same as previously calibrated instruments. This is no small feat, particularly with humidity, which can be notoriously difficult to measure accurately. Probably because of its small size, the SensorPush almost instantly reacts to any temperature or humidity change.
In every case, the temperature and humidity readings were close to or exactly the same as previously calibrated instruments. This is no small feat, particularly with humidity, which can be notoriously difficult to measure accurately. Probably because of its small size, the SensorPush almost instantly reacts to any temperature or humidity change.
But an hygrometer measures humidity not the specific gravity or alcohol content of a solution. Why would measuring the ambient humidity be important when the mead is as near to 100 percent liquid as possible? And how would this help the OP decide whether the OP should be using his or her fermenter as the testing cylinder for the hydrometer?
You can also use a wine thief (10 bucks on Amazon) just put the hydrometer right in it, but you have to make sure your 1 gallon Carboys mouth is large enough. I switched over to 1 gallon jars because my thief wouldn't fit into the Carboys I have.
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Even if you look at the temp adjustment, it's so minute it's a total waste of time, as the biggest spread is so insignificant it's not worth the time to do the adjustment.
Yeah... I wonder if aleksey.dubrov's post was a poorly disguised ad that showed confusion between people who might be interested in hygrometers (cheese makers) with those interested in hydrometers... Just sayin'... 
