Homebrew Testing Instruments
When it comes to homebrew beers and scientific test instruments, some of them are just a ‘nice-to-have’ while others are absolute essentials. Falling into the essentials category are thermometers and even more important hydrometers.
Without these instruments, brewing great beer CONSISTENTLY is almost impossible.
There are many types of thermometer suitable for home brewing readily available. From the humble floating thermometer, which does exactly what it sounds like, to the Fermometer, which is a flexible, stick on strip to attach to your fermenting vessel, to the king of thermometers, the stainless steel BrewMometer with its large 3” diameter dial, fine pointer and custom temperature range. There is a thermometer for every brewer and every budget.
But if you’re forced to choose between a beer thermometer and a hydrometer, then don’t hesitate, get yourself a hydrometer. This simple floating device, which looks a lot like a floating thermometer is vital for determining the specific gravity of your brew, the alcohol content and for monitoring the fermentation process.
The hydrometer is used to gauge the fermentation progress by measuring one aspect of it, attenuation. Attenuation is the conversion of sugar to ethanol by the yeast. Water has a specific gravity of 1.000. Beers typically have a final gravity between 1.015 and 1.005.
Hydrometers cannot measure the alcohol in a finished beer. However if you measure the starting SG before adding your yeast (remembering to make a note of it!) and re-measure it once fermentation is finished you can calculate a largely accurate alcohol percentage in the finished beer.
Alcohol calculation formula: Alcohol percentage = (Starting SG - Final SG) / 7.36
Have a look at these homebrew test instruments on Ebay.
