RoaldV Posted September 24, 2011 Author Share Posted September 24, 2011 Yes it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyW Posted September 24, 2011 Share Posted September 24, 2011 Yes it is. Mystery solved [cool] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoaldV Posted September 24, 2011 Author Share Posted September 24, 2011 Heh, yea. Well anyway, a SG of 1.012 sounds a lot more likely than 1.002. Checking again tomorrow, hopefully it comes in at 1.002 (1.012) again [biggrin] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BNZ Posted September 24, 2011 Share Posted September 24, 2011 Yup, my coopers hydrometer sinks down to about 990 in 20' water as well, I stopped using it and have been using the 'guess and hope for the best method'for my last 3 brews...[roll] can anyone recommend a good brand for a replacement? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyW Posted September 24, 2011 Share Posted September 24, 2011 can anyone recommend a good brand for a replacement? I use a Stevenson Reeves and its bang on the money.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BNZ Posted September 24, 2011 Share Posted September 24, 2011 thanks Tony, ill be on the look out for one next time in near a home brew store. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damien E1 Posted September 24, 2011 Share Posted September 24, 2011 Is this the Coopers plastic hydrometer? If so they seem prone to coming in under' date=' if not what are you using?[/quote'] With mine I found it was the tube that was the issue, not the hydrometer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyW Posted September 25, 2011 Share Posted September 25, 2011 Yes its too narrow and the hydrometer sticks to the sides if alot, thats why i have a proper glass tube. There is a plastic one available which is rather solid but it has a rim down the bottom with a nice little hide out for mould Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoaldV Posted September 25, 2011 Author Share Posted September 25, 2011 Day 7: 1.001 (1.011??) on the dot. No matter how much fiddling etc I did, it kept coming in at 1.001 rather than 1.002 (1.012??) like yesterday. Grrr, I shall keep measuring. There will be no bottling beer today like I had planned. Maybe tomorrow night? We shall see! EDIT - actually, now that the hydrometer has sat for 5 minutes, it's reading at 1.002. I'm confused - is it done or not? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GaryF1 Posted September 25, 2011 Share Posted September 25, 2011 Twirl the hydrometer while it sits in the tube of liquor (if you haven't done so already). Gas bubbles can adhere to the hydro, making it lighter, thus giving a higher SG reading. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 25, 2011 Share Posted September 25, 2011 Yup' date=' my coopers hydrometer sinks down to about 990 in 20' water as well, I stopped using it and have been using the 'guess and hope for the best method'for my last 3 brews...[roll'] can anyone recommend a good brand for a replacement? You maybe lucky so far but I suggest still taking a reading. Even if the Hydrometer is out it will still give the same reading when the brew has finished regardless. It doesn't matter how accurate the reading is but provided you get the same over a couple of days then your done. At least that will save getting grenades. I have seen pics of some very nasty injuries from bottle bombs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
***** Posted September 26, 2011 Share Posted September 26, 2011 Ahh, I see, that's why Coopers recommend you get the yeast in ASAP.... to innoculate the brew against evil yeasts. BTW - my OG was 1.035. Does that sound about right? Hey RoaldV I also received a brew kit for Father's Day, and my first brew was the Lager. OG went 1.039 and FG only went as low as 1.012. I think I messed up when tooping up the vessel, I filled the syrup can with cold water, to try and rinse all the syrup out, and ended up with a lot of foam. Took a while to ferment, in Tassie and the temperature was around 18 degrees for most of the 8 days. Anyway I bottled it on Thursday and then started a Pale Ale. Same OG, but the brew looks a lot better, used boiling water in the can and didn't create any foam, temperature stayed up at 22 degrees much longer. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairy Posted September 26, 2011 Share Posted September 26, 2011 ScottE9, welcome to the forum! Your lager will be fine. The residual malt left in the tin won't make that much of a difference. It will still be good. And 18 degrees is perfect for ale fermentation (note: the lager you made uses ale yeast so it is actaully a pale ale). It doesn't matter that it takes a few extra days to ferment; the lower temp will give you a cleaner fermentation. Also, once fermentation has finished you could leave it sit there for a while longer to allow the yeast to clean up after themselves and also allow for more yeast to drop out of suspension. For ales, I tend to leave mine in the fermenter for 2 weeks before bottling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoaldV Posted September 26, 2011 Author Share Posted September 26, 2011 Hey Scott, thanks for the handy tip - I too struggled to get all the last little bits of concentrate out of the can. I am convinced my hydrometer is completely out (maybe as much as 12), but I guess it's still handy to confirm the FG... even if it is out. And I guess I can still confirm the alcoholic content, as the difference between the OG and the FG should still be a good indication regardless. As a side note, I also tried to use my saltwater refractometer with spectacular failure. Although there theoretically must be a way to make it work, I don't know how to convert and interpret the results it's giving me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
***** Posted September 26, 2011 Share Posted September 26, 2011 Roald I assume you are a novice as well, it will be good to keep each other posted, especially given the same first brew. I just checked my brewers log, didn't have access to it last night when I posted. I started my brew on Sept 11, added yeast at 25 degrees, OG = 1.038, and the fermentation basically occurred at 16 - 18 degrees. (Wife is crook at me now that I am running the heat pump at a higher temp whereas all through Winter I would drop it to 12 degrees overnight). Due to my shift and the lower temperature my next SG test was on the September 19 at 1.012. Two days later I tested SG at 1.011, am, drove to the brew by you shop for caps and a capper and bottled that evening and tested SG @ 1.011. ABV 4.1% (after secondary fermentation). Are you going to bottle your brew or keg it? Certainly I need to know the ABV for responsibility reasons [rightful] . For example on preliminary final night I went to my mates place with 4 Carlton Cold (4.2%) as I was the dedicated driver. So whereas I would enjoy some 4.8% to 5.2% home brew [bandit] the 4.1% to 4.4% option enables me to assume my equal share of dedicated driving without having to drink tea or water all night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
***** Posted September 26, 2011 Share Posted September 26, 2011 ScottE9, welcome to the forum! Your lager will be fine. The residual malt left in the tin won't make that much of a difference. It will still be good. And 18 degrees is perfect for ale fermentation (note: the lager you made uses ale yeast so it is actually a Pale Ale). It doesn't matter that it takes a few extra days to ferment; the lower temp will give you a cleaner fermentation. Also, once fermentation has finished you could leave it sit there for a while longer to allow the yeast to clean up after themselves and also allow for more yeast to drop out of suspension. For ales, I tend to leave mine in the fermenter for 2 weeks before bottling. Thanks Hairy That's good to know, because I am having trouble sourcing long necks I am using a combination of 640ml bottles and 375ml stubbies. I assume you method will be better for Stubbies. I am brewing the Pale Ale at the moment and the instructions do say that the international series is better suited to slightly lower temperatures, given that I will follow up with the Canadian Blonde. The bonus of Tassie in September/October. Cheers Scott Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoaldV Posted September 26, 2011 Author Share Posted September 26, 2011 [annoyed] Hydrometer is now giving me a reading of 0.970, which is clearly impossible. I left it in some water after rinsing it yesterday for a couple of hours, so I can only assume some moisture got inside. It's Day 8, and the reading was almost identical between days 6 & 7. Can I go ahead and bottle? [unsure] Or do I need to go out and buy another hydrometer and test over two days? EDIT - and Scott, yea, I'll be bottling the beer. Kegging scares me :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairy Posted September 27, 2011 Share Posted September 27, 2011 Thanks Hairy That's good to know, because I am having trouble sourcing long necks I am using a combination of 640ml bottles and 375ml stubbies. I assume you method will be better for Stubbies. Scott, you've confused me. I am very easily confused so its not much of a feat. I was talking about fermentation temperatures and time. This is more to do with the yeast and style of beer rather than the size of the bottles. The primary fermentation will be the same regardless of whether you intend to bottle into 640ml bottles, 375ml bottles or even kegging. If you are using a combination of different sized bottles then you will better off bulk priming. This will be easier than trying to work out how much sugar or drops to put in each bottle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PB2 Posted September 27, 2011 Share Posted September 27, 2011 It's just a matter of checking the hydrometer in your water supply at 20degC, noting the deviation from 1.000 then applying that correction factor to all readings. Roald, in your case, apart from under-reading, intitially, the hydrometer also looks like is may be a sinker [pinched] We will replace it. Please contact us customerservice@coopers.com.au and include your delivery details. [biggrin] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoaldV Posted September 27, 2011 Author Share Posted September 27, 2011 Thanks PB2 [biggrin] Email sent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BNZ Posted September 27, 2011 Share Posted September 27, 2011 With mine I found it was the tube that was the issue, not the hydrometer. i did some testing on this theory, and yes i agree my hydrometer is fine when used in a wider tube! This explains why my readings were up and down like a fiddlers elbow. ... still seems like a waste of beer to use a wider tube [annoyed] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PB2 Posted September 27, 2011 Share Posted September 27, 2011 The plastic DIY BEER hydrometer is quite tough compared to glass versions [wink]. When floating the hydro in the sample tube, tap the top of the hydro so that it bounces off the base of the tube - this should dislodge bubbles and help the hydro to find its own level for reading the SG. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
***** Posted September 27, 2011 Share Posted September 27, 2011 Scott, you've confused me. I am very easily confused so its not much of a feat. I was talking about fermentation temperatures and time. This is more to do with the yeast and style of beer rather than the size of the bottles. Hey Hairy I have a knack for confusing people. I was thinking that the smaller the bottle the more noticeable the cloudiness and sediment. So I thought allowing more yeast to drop out would result in a clearer brew in the smaller bottles. In my first brew I bottled two stubbies, along with some PET bottles and the 640 glass. The PET bottles were easier but I have this mental dislike for drinking out of plastic (or aluminium). I won't have any idea what I am talking about until I sample the brew in December, so I will continue to read what the experts on this forum have to say. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairy Posted September 27, 2011 Share Posted September 27, 2011 No worries Scott. And we're not experts [wink] (PB2 exlcuded) We are home brewers just like you and we still have heaps of questions ourselves and lots to learn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoaldV Posted September 30, 2011 Author Share Posted September 30, 2011 Roald' date=' in your case, apart from under-reading, intitially, the hydrometer also looks like is may be a sinker [pinched'] We will replace it. Please contact us customerservice@coopers.com.au and include your delivery details. [biggrin] Just got the replacement today in the mail. Super fast delivery, no fuss, A+ customer service [biggrin] Cheers Coopers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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