Oops... I broke my hydrometer.

The hydrometer is the most breakable piece of wine-making equipment. I have no idea how many I have broken. Best advice: get a deal on a half-dozen. It seems like they don't break as easily then.

My brother broke his hydrometer before he started his first batch. He was giving everything a good cleaning the night before starting his first, and the hydrometer rolled onto the floor.

Steve

Seven batches in five years is not many. Going through two hydrometers is in seven batches is way too many. You need to treat it like glass!

There are 50 ways to break your hydrometer: 1. Don't put it away, Jay. 2. Don't keep it in a tube, Rube. 3. Let it fall, Paul. 4. Drop it in a Carboy, Joy. ...

Dick

To break on before it is used! That is sad.

I have been making wine for 30+ years and make anywhere from 20 to 80 gallons a year. I have broken 3 or 4 in that time. Thank goodness they are cheap. I agree that you should have more than one. You do not want to be in the middle of starting a batch and break one. I also agree than haveing several seems to prevent their breakage. I have had 3 for the last 10 years and recently bought 2 more specialty ones. I have not brocken one in all that time. (If I break one tonight I will curse you for asking this fool question!) ;o)

Ray

7 stitches from a yardsale carboy (full of sanitizer, thank god!) as it spontaneously split whist hoisting it onto the laundry counter. 2 hydrometers, one snapped when accidentally tapped, one rolled off the bench, basement floor (Man down! Man down!) 2 test tubes from acid test kits hit the floor - too many quality control tests ;^)

1 thermometer: sat on it, still don't know how it got onto the lounge chair....

over 11 years brewing & fermenting, stuff happens. to beermeister charlie papazian, "relax, have a homebrew..."

I have a philosophy. In skiing they say if you don't fall you aren't being aggressive enough and not challenged. Sooo - my theory goes that if in wine making if you aren't breaking things, you aren't making much wine or not making much progress in your winemaking efforts. Hey, it works for me.

I like that theory, I have no idea how many I have broken. It's at least 5 probably 10.

Joe

I guess I'm being too careful ... still using the hydrometer I bought in 1984 ...

Bryan

funny, I was dinngin thru som eold junk and found a small hydrometer.

washed it, set it aside to dry, played with it for a bit, then promptly lost it.

Its been 3 days now and i cant find it, or parts of it, or the cool case it was in.

Do you have children? If not I saw a Twilight Zone about missing things once. There are little trolls that create time and sometimes they forget to put some stuff in there or move things around a little. It made sense to me until I had kids and now I know those trolls have nothing on my kids. I found my car keys in the bottom of the box I keep my filter in - in the back of the cabinet under some other stuff. Those trolls - I mean kids.

Ahhh yes! Yahooty did it. He is the little man that winds electric clocks and steals socks from the drier and such.

Ray