<reply@grouponly> wrote in message
...
> 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?

You can do that once a day with no problem if your hydrometer is clean, but
your palate will tell you when the wine is getting close to dryness.

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

Buy a plastic hydrometer jar. Wine Art makes one IIRC. Assuming the jar
and hydrometer are clean when you start, just pour the wine back into the
fermenter. No need to worry about oxidation in a wine that's still actively
fermenting and saturated with CO2.

Tom S