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A Hydrometer is an essential piece of equipment for wine and beer making. Careful use of a hydrometer is very helpful in ensuring that the wine is started with the correct amount of sugar. It can also be used to help monitor the progress of fermentation and to determine the final sweetness level. Using your readings you can easily calculate the alcohol level of your finished wine.
Keeping good records of specific gravities during your wine making will enable you to give essential information to your local retailer if you have experienced any problems.
When sugar is dissolved in water the density (or specific gravity) of the liquid increases in proportion to the amount of sugar dissolved. In simple terms the hydrometer is a balanced device which floats. The denser the liquid the higher hydrometer floats and therefore the higher the specific gravity reading. Most hydrometers are calibrated to give a reading of 1.000° when placed in distilled water at 20°C. Any reading higher than 1.000° therefore indicates that the liquid is denser than simple water and therefore suggests that there is sugar present in the liquid.
As sugar is fermented by yeast, alcohol and carbon dioxide are produced. Alcohol is much less dense than sugar and water and therefore the specific gravity reading will decrease. The hydrometer can be seen to be floating lower in the water.
By measuring specific gravity (SG) at the start and finish of your wine fermentation you can calculate the percentage alcohol produced. The final specific gravity reading after completion of fermentation will also give you a good guide to the dryness or sweetness of your wine:
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Less than 1.000° | dry to medium dry wine |
| 1.000° - 1.006° | medium wine | |
| Greater than 1.006° | sweet wine | |
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It is useful to use the hydrometer in conjunction with a trial jar rather than try to float the hydrometer in the wine itself. Sterilise the hydrometer and trial jar and drain. Fill the trial jar to within 1cm (1/2”) of the top and place the hydrometer into the jar. It is important to stand the trial jar on a sink drainer as there may be some spillage. If any froth is present gently blow this away from the hydrometer. Spin the hydrometer gently to remove any air bubbles and look at the hydrometer reading with your eye at the same level as the hydrometer. Take the reading from the gravity scale on the hydrometer at the point where the hydrometer stem enters the liquid surface (see diagram). After taking the hydrometer reading the wine may be returned to the fermenter.
If your wine is too cloudy to take a reading from the correct liquid level easily then take the reading where the liquid touches the hydrometer and add 0.002° to your reading to compensate.
Most hydrometers are calibrated at 20°C so your wine should be at about this temperature. If it is 5° higher then add 0.001 to the reading. If it is 5° lower then deduct 0.001 from the reading.
The difference between the initial starting gravity and the final gravity, known as the gravity drop, can be used to calculate the approximate alcohol level. The alcohol content can be determined by dividing the gravity drop by 7.45. This will provide an answer in alcohol percentage by volume. For example, a wine with a starting gravity of 1.085, finishing at 1.005, produces an alcohol drop of 80.80 divided by 7.45 gives a level of 10.7% alcohol by volume.
The hydrometer can be used to achieve the correct sugar level when starting a country wine. Simply take an initial gravity reading and then add sugar or grape concentrate as necessary to achieve the gravity required.
It is good practice to taste your wines at all stages of fermentation to enable you to correlate sweetness and dryness with specific gravity.
Finally, remember that a hydrometer is a delicate instrument as it has to be thin and light enough to float. Treat it gently. It is worthwhile keeping a spare!
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We expect to open our new homebrew store in June 2009
More info
http://www.homebrew4less.com
Welcome Fellow HOPS Members:
If you missed the HOPS February 2009 or the March 2009 meetings, you missed a presentation on refractometers (February 2009) and how to chill your wort from 212F to 60F in less than 10 minutes (March 2009). If you missed April’s meeting, you missed a session on beer flaw evaluation and palate calibration. Also, we had a demonstration on building a conical fermenter for about $30. Here are the details of the flaw:
This compound has the taste and aroma of fresh-cut green apples, and has also been compared to grass, green leaves and latex paint. It is normally reduced to ethanol by yeast during the secondary fermentation, but oxidation of the finished beer may reverse this process, converting ethanol to acetaldehyde. Elevated levels are generally present in green beer or if the beer is prematurely removed from the yeast. It can also be a product of bacterial spoilage by Zymomonas or Acetobacter. Background levels of acetaldehyde can be tasted in Budweiser due to the use of beechwood chips to drop the yeast before it can be reduced to ethanol.
This can also be the result of inadequate wort oxygenation, though the resultant yeast byproducts are normally metabolic intermediates they can remain after fermentation in some cases.” BJCP Study Guide
May’s meeting will include how to have stronger yeast starters focusing on healthy yeast through constant aeration and rinsing yeast.
For 2009, here’s a list of potential meeting topics:
The professor then produced two cans of beer from under the table
and proceeded to pour their entire contents into the jar — effectively
filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.
“Now,” said the professor, as the laughter subsided, “I want you to
recognize that this jar represents your life. The rocks are the
important things - your family, your partner, your health, your
children?things that, if everything else was lost and only they
remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles are the other
things that matter like your job, your house, your car.
The sand is everything else. The small stuff. “If you put the sand
into the jar first,” he continued “there is no room for the pebbles or
the rocks. The same goes for your life. If you spend all your time and
energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that
are important to you.
Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness.
Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your
partner out dancing. There will always be time to go to work, clean the
house, give a dinner party and fix the disposal.
“Take care of the rocks first — the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.”
One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the beer represented.
The professor smiled. “I’m glad you asked. It just goes to show you
that no matter how full your life may seem, there’s always room for a
couple of beers.”
From http://www.bjcp.org …
“Former
BJCP President and Treasurer William R. Slack of Nashua, NH was
sentenced on December 16, 2008 in U.S. District Court in Concord, NH.
Mr. Slack admitted his guilt as part of a plea bargain. During his
allocution, Mr. Slack admitted that he misappropriated BJCP funds
steadily during this tenure as BJCP Treasurer. Mr. Slack was sentenced
to (1) restitution of approximately $43K, (2) five years probation, and
(3) incarceration of one week per month for twelve months.”
The Nashua Telegraph covered the trial in detail, also reporting that Slack was arrested in 1998 for pointing a shotgun at a collecting Telegraph newspaper boy.
Founded
in 1985, the purpose of the Beer Judge Certification Program is to
promote beer literacy and the appreciation of real beer, and to
recognize beer tasting and evaluation skills.
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Merry Christmas to my fellow HOPS
I hope Santa was nice to all Since I have some time to myself over the |
When people who enjoy beer talk about their favorites, you’ll hear some
of the same words over and over. Terms like mouthfeel, aromatic, grassy
or hoppy have become part of the standard language of beer. In the
1970s, Dr. Morten Meilgaard created the Beer Flavor Wheel. The wheel
has 14 categories broken down into 44 flavors. The wheel was a way to
standardize a language through which beer tasters can agree on a
word-to-flavor correlation.
Scientists have found more than 1,000 identifiable flavors in beer, yet an experienced taster can pick out perhaps only 100.
Dr. Morten’s wheel gave beer tasters a common vocabulary and caught on
all over the world. It is now used as the standard reference by the
European Brewery Convention, the American Society of Brewing Chemists,
and the Master Brewers Association of the Americas.
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