HOME BREW HYDROMETER COMPARISON | THE MALT MILLER HOME BREWING CHAMPION

Taking Specific Gravity readings when home brewing beer is an important part of the brewing process; but have you ever wanted to see the differences between home brew hydrometers?
Well in this video Stiffo takes you through the 4 main options open to us. He's pitted the classic Glass Hydrometer, Refractometer, Digital Hydrometer and EasyDens from Anton Paar all against each other to see the pros and cons of each option!
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[@SteveBlackdog]

I always drink the wort as I test with the glass original.

[@martinavisbeats]

Same. Have to taste the wort

[@DavidRed2]

I measure Gravity direct with the traditional glass Hydrometer at the Start and the end to confidently accurately measure %ABV. I also use a floating Tilt Hydrometer (expensive and less accurate) to measure fermentation progress. When the 1.0xx numbers stop decrementing its time to bottle.

[@themaltmiller8438]

Same approach, using something manual at the start and end to find out the exact gravity. 👌🏻

[@davec4955]

I now have two Rapt pills which I've also converted to wireless charging. I love the fact I can see exactly what the temperature is and when fermentation is over without interfering at all. I've also noticed that by removing my temperature control sensor from the thermowell and sticking it to the outside of the fermenter results in better temperature stability.🍻

[@tristanchittleborough2929]

I've had the easydens for over a year and love it, completely worth it for taking sg and fg readings. Makes life way easier 😂

[@themaltmiller8438]

Great to hear!

[@martinavisbeats]

Great video. Just shows that there is hardly any difference in performance but a huge difference in price from £10 to £360 for 1 gravity point

[@themaltmiller8438]

It’s more about the approach folks want to take and what works best for them. Some love the simplicity of the more manual methods but then others love to view the data and store this for reference which is offered by the more expensive digital options

[@woodskins]

Don't forget the easydens will also measure ABV

[@roryscarlett3952]

Great video. I'm lucky. Tilt Pro and an Easy Dens for me.

[@paulbotterill8715]

Current brew using an ISpindle, first use, in a chubby. Glass hydrometer for OG and a recent test. Great for the temperature monitoring as well.

[@janeprice4473]

A great video, thanks! I've used Easy Dens for a couple of years and love it, a real game changer for me and so much easier on the eyesight and not having to worry about temperature adjustments. Tilt is great for keeping an eye on fermentation progress, particularly with fast fermenting yeasts, then back to the Easy Dens for final readings. Pricey, yes, but probably the best bit of kit yet.

[@rossacairns112]

Love my RAPT pill and temperature controller. Really great bit of kit, brilliant design being able to use the pill as the controllers temperature probe. Bit more pricey than an inkbird but love it so far.

[@themaltmiller8438]

Giving you that level of access to data and control is great, isn't it!

[@padraickeogh]

One thing I would watch with the Pill is to put it in water for around 24 hours before calibrating the temperature - they seem to need to equalise inside the tube for a while before it's accurate.

[@themaltmiller8438]

Great tip!

[@SimonJD1000]

I believe Anton Parr also make a digital refractometer called Smart Ref which is significantly cheaper than the Easy Dens without significant loss of accuracy. Have you had a chance to compare them?

[@themaltmiller8438]

We have had a play with the Smart Ref but not done a side by side comparison. 👍🏻

[@MartinSmith-eg5vi]

I measure density using a 100ml volumetric flask and balance reading to 0.01g. Very accurate and low cost (

[@davidhall158]

I’ve used a hydrometer only since I first brewed, in 1979. The only drag with a hydrometer is chilling the pre boil wort sample quickly. Easy enough to manage though. I suppose the sample size might be an issue for some if you were making very small batches

[@peterwhatley7444]

Very informative. Thank you!

[@markaylingacoustic]

Very interesting, thanks for the video!

[@themaltmiller8438]

Glad you liked it!

[@jamesdavies5270]

Really good, informative video! Thank you.

[@themaltmiller8438]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@MRGIT999]

I also like the original glass hydrometer take a sample reading and taste sample

[@jauld360]

I have a Sonda Digital Brix Meter Refractometer, which are cheap at about £30 all in from ali express. It's much nicer than the kind you need to read with your eye. The RAPT pill kind of meter is great for looking at trends during fermentation, but I don't expect it to be accurate.

[@themaltmiller8438]

Exactly how we see the digital style hydrometers. Great too for insights and preserving your volumes

[@mrmathman]

Any chance you might stock the TILT pro mini soon? Will be really useful for the Brewtools mini uni's!

[@themaltmiller8438]

Possibly! We will take a look into it!

[@mikebeswick3420]

Using the rapt pill. If fermenting under pressure does this affect the reading? I suppose you could test it by taking a measurement in a corny turn pressurising the vessel.

[@themaltmiller8438]

We have used it a few times under pressure and not noticed any problems

[@GodfreyTempleton]

I understand what the EasyDens is for - measuring density, but when would one use the SmartRef ?

[@themaltmiller8438]

Smart ref works in the same way as a refractometer so you can use it during the brew day to check your gravity if you wish but the real game changer is when you use it with the EasyDens as it can calculate the gravity for you on fermenting/fermented beer without the need for doing any calculations or telling the app the OG.

[@JimboJamboEFC]

Great video!!! With the RATP Pill, is fermenting under pressure going to cause an issue or is this factored in to the design? Cheers!! 🍺

[@andrewcollier3158]

Don't forget that the Corny keg is a metal jacket. At best it will limit the wireless connection, worst case it will mean to get no reading. If you use something like a Fermzilla then you should be able to calibrate the Pill before relying on any reading.

[@themaltmiller8438]

We’ve used the pill under pressure a few times and not had any issues

[@JimboJamboEFC]

Brilliant, thanks for replies!!

[@richharper8159]

This is the video I need to show people when they ask how I ‘make the alcohol level I need’.

[@patricktucker2081]

I would like to try a Rapt pill but the shed where I ferment my beer is out of wifi range. Can I use the Rapt pill directly to my mobile via blue tooth?

[@themaltmiller8438]

It won't work directly with your phone, the bluetooth option has to connect to one of the RAPT enabled controllers such as the fermentation/temperature controller.

[@patricktucker2081]

Ok, that's a shame I won't be able to use it.@@themaltmiller8438