[quattlebaum]

i always thought the glass wine thief was made for barrels. i am sure they make different ones but i know that the curved ones will not fit into a carboy well. personally i use the northernbrewer 3 piece one for the past 6 years and dig it.

[slats]

What about using a refractometer?

I use a refractometer for preboil and post boil readings, but I prefer a hydrometer for FG readings. Alcohol present in beer makes refractometer FG readings inaccurate unless you use a correction.

I do have a refractometer and I have the same concerns. Is this concern justified? Beersmith has a correction tool. is this tool accurate? Has anyone here done a side by side comparison?

[brewday]

This one's great, and it's local. 

http://seanterrill.com/2012/01/06/refractometer-calculator/

[morticaixavier]

What about using a refractometer?

I use a refractometer for preboil and post boil readings, but I prefer a hydrometer for FG readings. Alcohol present in beer makes refractometer FG readings inaccurate unless you use a correction.

I do have a refractometer and I have the same concerns. Is this concern justified? Beersmith has a correction tool. is this tool accurate? Has anyone here done a side by side comparison?

The above references Sean Terrill tool seems to work. I think the thing that you have to get used to when using a refractometer rather than a hydrometer is that you might not get a totally accurate reading even with correction. but it will be perfectly precise and repeatable and in my book that's at least as important. Do I care if my Barley wine is 11% ABV or 11.8%? not really. What I'm most concerned about is that the final gravity has been reached and the beer is stable.

[brewday]

+1

Exactly.  I use beersmith to predict my FG, but I don't really care if it finishes 1.011 or 1.013.  What I do care about is that it's fully attenuated.  The refract calc allows me to do that while ballparking the FG number to ensure there wasn't an attenuation issue. And I don't need to steal a bunch of my beer in order to get those readings!

[69franx]

+1

Exactly.  I use beersmith to predict my FG, but I don't really care if it finishes 1.011 or 1.013.  What I do care about is that it's fully attenuated.  The refract calc allows me to do that while ballparking the FG number to ensure there wasn't an attenuation issue. And I don't need to steal a bunch of my beer in order to get those readings!

I know this is a little off topic, but it does relate to the above post. When beer is fermenting or almost finished, is there any stratification to the gravity throughout the fermenting vessel? In other words, should a thief sampling from half way down the vessel get the same result or close to that of a corrected refractometer reading taken from the very top of fermenter? Really a noob question I wish I had asked a year ago, but this thread made me think of it again. I have grown tired of "stealing a bunch of my beer to get readings" I know those samples also give me tasting notes as the brew progresses, just a questionoverall really on the stratification. I know mash and sparge stratify, water in your hot water tank stratifies, just wondering about fermenting wort. Sorry to high jack

[morticaixavier]

+1

Exactly.  I use beersmith to predict my FG, but I don't really care if it finishes 1.011 or 1.013.  What I do care about is that it's fully attenuated.  The refract calc allows me to do that while ballparking the FG number to ensure there wasn't an attenuation issue. And I don't need to steal a bunch of my beer in order to get those readings!

I know this is a little off topic, but it does relate to the above post. When beer is fermenting or almost finished, is there any stratification to the gravity throughout the fermenting vessel? In other words, should a thief sampling from half way down the vessel get the same result or close to that of a corrected refractometer reading taken from the very top of fermenter? Really a noob question I wish I had asked a year ago, but this thread made me think of it again. I have grown tired of "stealing a bunch of my beer to get readings" I know those samples also give me tasting notes as the brew progresses, just a questionoverall really on the stratification. I know mash and sparge stratify, water in your hot water tank stratifies, just wondering about fermenting wort. Sorry to high jack

I suppose it might but if there is any activity in the beer it's going to create convection currents that will keep things mixed.

[69franx]

Thanks Jonathan, I knew I was missing something, and that was it. Presents a change for me to think about

[sambates]

I would like to replace my current plastic sampling thief. Has anyone used the glass ones? Comments?

I use this one http://www.amazon.com/Glass-Wine-Thief-12-diameter/dp/B0064O9BYW and I like it. It's also nice because I can place it in my hydrometer jar with boiling water and can use it with both clean and bug beers. Pros are that it's good for both beers and has a nice little finger grip; cons are that I've stepped on and shattered one & the pulls are smaller, so you have to draw twice for a good taste

I have the leaky plastic one too. Pro is that you get more of a sample, con is that it's only useful for my clean beers.

[klickitat jim]

I need to step up my game I guess. Still using a turkey baster.

[jjflash]

I use this one http://www.amazon.com/Glass-Wine-Thief-12-diameter/dp/B0064O9BYW and I like it.

My best glass wine thief for the past 5+ years just rolled off my desktop and fell to the floor breaking into a  million pieces.  So I replaced it with the above glass wine thief, and don't like it at all.  Major issue is it's too short to use, only 12 inches long and is not long enough to easily fit down into the beer in a 6.5 gallon glass carboy.  My old one must of been 18-20 inches long as it worked perfectly for this.  Can't seem to find one this same length anywhere!

[TMX]

I need to step up my game I guess. Still using a turkey baster.

Me too, love it

[slats]

I think I'm going to give a glass one a try. I'll look for one of the longer ones. Thanks for all of the input!