Reading Hydrometer in the fermenter

There's really no point in leaving the hydrometer in the fermenter. It's hard to read, even if you use a glass fermenter. Also, I have several batches going at once and if I left the hydrometer in, I'd need several hydrometers! Use a sanitized baster or wine thief to take a sample from the fermenter. Don't worry about opening the fermenter to take a sample...remember, alot of people use open fermentation! If you sanitize things and exrciase reasonbable care, there's almost no chance of hurting your beer by taking a sample.

-------->Denny

Some advice I've read/been given suggests leaving the hydrometer in the beer during the fermenting. I am using a Coopers Kit fermenter and cannot see how I could accurately read the hydrometer without opening the lid and thus exposing the beer to 'nasties'.

Is this advice meant for glass car-boy type fermenters, has someone come up with a way to read through the opaque sides of a plastic fermentor, or does the brief period the lid would be open constitute acceptable risk?

The lid of the Coopers fermentor is a clearer plastic, however the condensation build up and the angle you'd be required to read from doesn't make this an option (I don't think).

Many thanks, Michael Mowbray

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