How to Use a Hydrometer for Winemaking

I recently made a batch of Blueberry Wine (Check out the full wine making video here: • How to Make Homemade Wine )
In this video I discuss how to properly use a hydrometer, the science behind how it works, and what the some of the common scales listened on the hydrometer are (Specific Gravity, Potential Alcohol, and the Brix scale).
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North Mountain Supply 1 Gallon Wine Making kit ➜ amzn.to/2Z0Utvu
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Compact Juice Fountain 700 ➜ amzn.to/2HelUMp
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Glass Carboy, 6 gallon ➜ amzn.to/2ZcPmsc
Wine Yeast ➜ amzn.to/2KQ1AlG
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[@cyllakjaw]

I didnt keep count of how many videos i watched before yours, but it was all waisted time. Your video is the only one that really explained the hydrometer adequately.

[@OldManStino]

Oh cool! Glad it helped

[@cavalryscout8720]

FINALLY someone explains this in terms I actually understand.. Thank you very much!!

[@marilynbohn8009]

Thank you, I really needed this lesson because I get confused. You made it understandable.

[@deepmead6086]

Good precise and no nonsense video. Subscribed.

[@sandgrosssales4927]

Fantastic! Short and simple explanation. Best video on this x

[@OldManStino]

Cool, glad I could help

[@r-kidhenry1285]

Fantastic, very well explained thank you my friend you truly are a people's person who knows how to explain things

[@dioad1739]

Thanks simple to the point easy to understand.

[@jeepman1961]

Thank you. This is the 4th video I watched. And by far the easiest information to understand. And yes I did subscribe. AND share!!

[@jeepman1961]

LOL .. and liked!!

[@OldManStino]

Oh cool, I'm glad you liked the video! Thanks so much for commenting

[@roosterkrishnamoj1521]

Can battry hydro meter measure the purity of iso propyil alcohal.

[@LindaKirkpatrick]

THANK YOU, took me far too long to find such a simple explanation! 👏👏

[@TheOldMayfieldPlace]

Very helpful. Thank you.

[@sotark77]

great video, very informative. thank you

[@Author_DeQuindra_Renea]

Thank you for this!!! Explained so well!!!!

[@OldManStino]

Good to hear! Good luck on your wine making and/or brewing

[@shags1130]

Best video on hydrometer

[@Vassilika1]

You just saved my day, thanks! :-)

[@jkidd7608]

Super helpful👍

[@elizabarry8633]

Interesting. Cool stuff...wish I could I remember this to impress my friend...lol...thanks for sharing. Hope you're having a great weekend 😃😻😻👌

[@sathishram9793]

Thanks

[@mishellekochel4510]

THANK YOU!!! BEST explanation ever. I think I finally understand. smh. 👍🙂

[@Gregory_TheWatchman]

Excellent explanation of how to properly use the hydrometer to determine the ABV of the finished product. I forgot to take a reading before the fermentation process. Now, I have a completed wine that is at the 1% mark on the hydrometer. I know for a fact it's well beyond 1%...lol Is there a way for me to determine the ABV of this wine or is there another measuring instrument to determine a finished wine's ABV? Thanks for sharing your video!

[@vcearth5805]

Great explanation but one thing you’ve missed, different temperatures can lead to different readings. Cooler temperatures can lead to low readings and higher temperatures will be less denser. 20c* is around the point you want to measure. I make spirits not beer also. 🔥

[@cavalryscout8720]

True.. hydrometers are calibrated at certain temperature.. If my thermostat is constantly 70°f, couldn't I take a reading in plain water to adjust for the variance from the calibrated temperature?

[@elizabethplacencia3402]

Wow Hello 👋 greetings from Ecuador 🇪🇨 ❤️

[@alfianodamanik]

Does the volume of the measuring cylinder need to have a minimum requirement? Is it ok if use a thin measuring cylinder?

[@byigeorge3680]

thanks a lot

[@ICUTGRASSLLC]

So... you add all ingredients into your wine including the yeast. You stir it all up real good and take a reading with the hydrometer and record it. Then you let the fermentation process do its thing. Once the fermentation is done you strain the mixture from the fermentation jug and take that strained liquid and use a hydrometer again. Correct?

[@OldManStino]

Pretty much! But you try to sterilize every step in between

[@anjanawickramaarachchi]

teacher onna man beluwaaa

[@emilyjane4524]

Hi, when do we need to measure the OG? Is it right after mixing the fruits, water, sugar, and yeast?

[@wva6809]

I think you measure the OG, when you're done, when you plan on closing the fermentation vessel to put it away for a couple of months. That is when you measure for OG.

[@OldManStino]

What Wiebe V Aken said, mix all your ingredients together, take a reading, then you can start fermentation

[@joumysuleiman2177]

Thanks 🙏 please can u tell us the total percentage of sugar needed to be in juice please for red wine recipe ? What’s the equation, I use store bought juice

[@OldManStino]

Your hydrometer should have a potential suger side too it and you can just keep adding sugar water until it's at 12 or 13

[@Tootnscoot]

Another "old timer" way of doing this how I originally learned as a kid is a kind of unscientific two way principle you really gotta learn how to do from an old hillbilly is the glassing or candy method. You can judge the sugar content in your must or mash by putting a drop on a glass and letting it evaporate. It leaves behind a sticky drop. You put your finger on that sticky drop and if when you slowly pull your finger off it gently pulls your skin, like sticky but your fingerprint stays defined your finished abv will be around 12%. If it deforms or stretches it will be lower at about 10% and if it'd hard it will be higher abv. The reason is the sugar hardens and the " in between" hard and tacky is where you want so you know to add more sugar or more water. You can shine a light through the drop and the closer the reflection is to the color of your drop the closer to 12% you are. Lighter means there's less sugar and more water lightening the color darker means there's more sugar. Just a tip if you don't have the fancy tools on hand and like I said it's not 100% scientific and spot on accurate but it is pretty close and I've used I before and got where I wanted to be by doing it

[@paulm5133]

I only have the last reading what can i deduce from that?

[@knules2]

I made a mash of honey water and crushed grapes with grape juice. Somehow I managed to get a higher reading the second time after 2ish weeks. Is that because of the grapes breaking down finally to add sugar to the mix?

[@OldManStino]

I’m not going to pretend to be an expert but maybe the honey wasn’t fully dissolved in the water? The first fermentation is the most active and should ferment the majority of the sugars in the first few days

[@knules2]

@@OldManStino I know I don't have it in ideal temps so it's definitely slowed down but it was much faster the first 2 days. To the point my airlock actually got blocked 3 times and I had to drain off...

[@OldManStino]

@@knules2 I have no idea why the reading would be higher after that, it should be a good bit lower. What were the two readings?

[@knules2]

@@OldManStino first was 13% abv and the second was around 31%

[@seand.5535]

@@knules2 maybe the second reading was touching the bottom or grapes instead of floating.

[@mmc1774]

Hi, What or how do you adjust for temperature? Mine was at 1.11,25 and 14 percent but, it was 79 degrees not 60.

[@OldManStino]

I only really worry about temperature when its too cold and got a little heating pad for my carboy

[@aleccap5946]

Mine is different. White red yellow i had a reading of 1.120 and 1.040 but no idea how strong this is

[@Onehundredpounds]

Can you take a hydrometer reading after adding campden tablets?

[@OldManStino]

Sure, the hydrometer just measures the weight of the liquid, so when it has more suger, it weighs more and will push the hydrometer higher. The campden tablet shouldn't effect that

[@milkywayranchsc]

can you put the initial "before" sample back in the bottle to ferment?

[@OldManStino]

I've read to discord the sample, but it's kindof alot of wine if you're only doing a small batch. I normally sterilize the test tub, hydrometer, and wine theif and throw the sample back into the batch

[@mytvchannellock]

I wouldn't. It is exposed to the air. Just swig it.

[@angelaadaisy5516]

what if you did not get a first reading how can you tell what the alcohol content is? I made lilac wine and i cant tell how much alcohol is in it.

[@OldManStino]

Check out this thread, www.reddit.com/r/mead/comments/8clmmj/is_there_any_way_to_measure_alcohol_content/?

[@StoneyardVineyards]

Prost , just subscribed after finding your channel , we home brew beer make meads and wine , grow some hops Stay thirsty ..

[@OldManStino]

Awesome thank you!

[@JohnSmith-qj7hd]

Do you pour the wine back in after you check it? Cant u just put the hydrometer in the bucket?

[@OldManStino]

You're biggest concern with pouring it back into the mix is introducing unwanted bacteria into your wine. In a large scale batch you can just discard after testing without it making a huge dent in your final amount, but when youre making a gallon batch a hydrometer test can be a pretty large percentage of your batch. So sometimes I do put the hydrometer test back into the mix. If you plan on adding it back into the mix make sure your sterilize any equipment that's gonna make contact with your wine (hydrometer, test tube, wine theft).

[@mytvchannellock]

I don't have a graduated cylinder, I thought I could use my really tall beer glass. Not tall enough :(

[@Callmeleish]

My sg was so high it was off then scale....it looked about 1.195-1.20🤷🏽‍♀️ how do I read that?

[@OldManStino]

Hmm, maybe you added too much sugar to your batch. Higher sugar normally means more alcohol but at some point the yeast dies when the alcohol content gets too high. I normal try to get a starting SG of 1.100 which gets the alcohol content to around 13 percent.

[@Callmeleish]

Ok ty

[@gonfaraway]

But how do you know the fermentation has really stopped. I mean how do you know all the sugar has fermented into alcohol?

[@OldManStino]

I believe once you get to the .990 level the alcohol is strong enough that it makes it hard for the yeast to survive and most of the sugers are already used up. Then you add campden tablet(s) to kill any remaining yeast and sterilize before bottling. If you add more suger after fermentating for a sweet wine, you want to let the wine sit for a few weeks after adding the campden and before bottling just to confirm no fermentating starts up again. Good luck!

[@veenaxettigar]

Thanks a lot. I made pineapple wine. I forgot to take initial gravity. But at the end it was cmg around .990 But after back sweetening it it changed to 1.050. I am new into brewing so all confused. The alcohol content produced must be taken before the back sweetening?

[@OldManStino]

Yea, you would need to take the reading before and after (before sweetening) the fermentation. But pineapple wine sounds delicious, how did it come out?

[@veenaxettigar]

@@OldManStino Thanks 😊 .It turned out really good. But tasted quiet strong. Next time I do it right to get the correct alcohol reading.

[@OldManStino]

@@veenaxettigar Oh I bet, was it acidic at all? Did you use fresh pineapple?

[@veenaxettigar]

@@OldManStino yea I did use fresh pineapple. Next time I think I shld use something for acidic Balance at initial stage. It's still sitting for more clearance. Almost 3 months now. Only I have tasted it :) My spiced rice is also sitting for clearance. Not tasted yet. Il be beginning with rose petal wine, grape again but with roasted oaks( hope it turns out good), and Apple wine I am hoping to make it sparkling. But bit scared I may burst the bottles. Any tips please? Thanks in advance.🙏

[@tanthiennguyen9133]

Beer mit 12% Alkohol ....Super....

[@luiseduardovalenzuelaserey9190]

Me parece que la explicacion es bastante confusa...ademas me molesta bastante que en los ejemplos donde comparas en el 1:10 del video uses instrumentos distintos. deberias hacer el ejemplo con un solo tipo de liquido para entender mejor. porque a mi me parece que si usas liquidos distintos lo logico es que obtengas tambien resultados diferentes.

[@lovebylizee]

help lol

[@OldManStino]

You got this!

[@ghostmost2614]

No help what so ever. As usual wine snobs can't break it down for beginners. How does one literally READ the wine meter. Break down and explain in an example a specific gravity reading. (Since it's a specific reading that is needed) There are no (decimal) points on the scale where is the .070 in a 1.070 reading? Also, spin the meter faster when showing. Hate to learn something. Golfing with a yard stick is easier than learning the BASICS of wine making. Patience required in wine making? (Patience in wine LEARNING. )