Greetings,

Thanks to all who helped with my question the other day.

What I'm trying to figure out is practical hydrometer usage. Sure,
I know how to use it, but in what ? Books/articles always say to,
"draw off a sample", or somesuch. Now I'm using a basic glass
"made in France" hydrometer. If I were to Primary Ferment down
to, say, 1.010 as Frishman suggests I'm gonna need a glass
something at least 7.5 in. deep to allow for a little leeway. Sounds
easy. But when I actually start measuring glasses around the house
it's obvious that any sample I draw off is gonna be close to half
a bottle. Pretty nice sample !

Then you've got to discard a lot or risk dirtying or oxidating a
fair volume in order to return it. Seems clumsy. There ought to
be a better way, I think. So I'm asking the ng for advise to how
(and how much) they draw for sampling. Related questions
could be:

1. During Primary Ferment can't you pop the lid and drop the
hydrometer in the bucket, or is this risky ? How often?

2. Do I need to buy some special "shorty" meter or am I
missing something obvious?

BTW, the best "beaker" I've found so far are the cheapo
glass tall votive candles they sell all over for .99cents USA.
Dollar Store, K-Mart, Safeway all have them -Occasionally
with a lovely tacky picture of the Virgin de Guadelupe on it.
The wax comes out cleanly, they are dishwashable, they
are about 3 inches wide, and they are 8 inches tall and don't
narrow at the neck like many olive-oil bottles.
(I've read somewhere that you shouldn't measure through
a narrowed neck as it throws off the reading).

Andrew