Membership questions? Log in issues? Email info@brewersassociation.org
Quote from: bayareabrewer on January 09, 2017, 09:42:46 amQuote from: dmtaylor on January 09, 2017, 07:53:11 amQuote from: erockrph on January 09, 2017, 07:25:09 amI have no desire to go back to glass carboys whatsoever. I'm just too much of a klutz Perhaps it would be helpful to add that I've been using the same hydrometer for >100 batches since 1999. I....what?!......that's impossible! If I remember, I'll take a picture later. It reads 1.003 in plain water at 60 F, so I've had to subtract that for many many years. I did drop the thing at least twice, but it didn't break. I'll still never be as awesome as Denny though.
Quote from: dmtaylor on January 09, 2017, 07:53:11 amQuote from: erockrph on January 09, 2017, 07:25:09 amI have no desire to go back to glass carboys whatsoever. I'm just too much of a klutz Perhaps it would be helpful to add that I've been using the same hydrometer for >100 batches since 1999. I....what?!......that's impossible!
Quote from: erockrph on January 09, 2017, 07:25:09 amI have no desire to go back to glass carboys whatsoever. I'm just too much of a klutz Perhaps it would be helpful to add that I've been using the same hydrometer for >100 batches since 1999.
I have no desire to go back to glass carboys whatsoever. I'm just too much of a klutz
I know the answer to this, since someone would have done it already, but is there a reason a hydrometer couldn't be made out of plastic?
Quote from: bayareabrewer on January 09, 2017, 11:59:01 amI know the answer to this, since someone would have done it already, but is there a reason a hydrometer couldn't be made out of plastic?Sure you could. However, glass is easier to clean and sanitize and will not harbor wild beasts -- ha!
Quote from: dmtaylor on January 09, 2017, 12:09:17 pmQuote from: bayareabrewer on January 09, 2017, 11:59:01 amI know the answer to this, since someone would have done it already, but is there a reason a hydrometer couldn't be made out of plastic?Sure you could. However, glass is easier to clean and sanitize and will not harbor wild beasts -- ha!true, but I'm not dipping my hydrometer into my fermenting beer, I'm pulling a sample and testing it in a beaker, then either drinking the sample or dumping it.
Quote from: dmtaylor on January 09, 2017, 12:09:17 pmQuote from: bayareabrewer on January 09, 2017, 11:59:01 amI know the answer to this, since someone would have done it already, but is there a reason a hydrometer couldn't be made out of plastic?Sure you could. However, glass is easier to clean and sanitize and will not harbor wild beasts -- ha!Already done. http://www.northernbrewer.com/herculometer-triple-scale-hydrometer?gclid=Cj0KEQiAhs3DBRDmu-rVkuif0N8BEiQAWuUJr-fER1uCvafxjX3fqZCnhvE1TBv2M97QKZrgddDPeBwaAuQ28P8HAQBest practices call for measuring gravity of a sample and not adding the sample back to the batch. Considering this has lead me to only rinse my hydrometer and test flask with warm water after use.
I think a bad thought about my hydrometer and the damned thing breaks.
Quote from: dmtaylor on January 09, 2017, 09:53:20 amQuote from: bayareabrewer on January 09, 2017, 09:42:46 amQuote from: dmtaylor on January 09, 2017, 07:53:11 amQuote from: erockrph on January 09, 2017, 07:25:09 amI have no desire to go back to glass carboys whatsoever. I'm just too much of a klutz Perhaps it would be helpful to add that I've been using the same hydrometer for >100 batches since 1999. I....what?!......that's impossible! If I remember, I'll take a picture later. It reads 1.003 in plain water at 60 F, so I've had to subtract that for many many years. I did drop the thing at least twice, but it didn't break. I'll still never be as awesome as Denny though. My first one broke when I slid it back in to the plastic tube it comes in after using it one day. No joke, it hit the thin plastic on the bottom of the tube and shattered. I bought my dual-scale refractometer shortly after that.
No one except the OP will want to hear my opinions on glass vs. plastic.Yes, glass is dangerous, and you need to be very careful with it. However, plastics *can* at times harbor wild yeast and bacteria that can give your beers a "house flavor" that glass will not do. Plastics are also oxygen permeable and for any long term aging, you can taste the effects of oxidation. If always doing quick batches, this is less likely, but if keeping in there for a couple of months, you might pick up premature oxidized flavors.There are certainly advantages and disadvantages of each. Personally, I am interested in making the best beer possible. As such, I use only glass. For me, glass is worth the risks, and I am very careful with it. I suppose at some point I could even seek out stainless steel carboys, as that would work even better, albeit you cannot see through the sides of stainless obviously, so that's a downside of that.We all need to make up our own minds and do what we think is best for us and the risks we want to take.
Quote from: dmtaylor on January 09, 2017, 05:30:17 amNo one except the OP will want to hear my opinions on glass vs. plastic.Yes, glass is dangerous, and you need to be very careful with it. However, plastics *can* at times harbor wild yeast and bacteria that can give your beers a "house flavor" that glass will not do. Plastics are also oxygen permeable and for any long term aging, you can taste the effects of oxidation. If always doing quick batches, this is less likely, but if keeping in there for a couple of months, you might pick up premature oxidized flavors.There are certainly advantages and disadvantages of each. Personally, I am interested in making the best beer possible. As such, I use only glass. For me, glass is worth the risks, and I am very careful with it. I suppose at some point I could even seek out stainless steel carboys, as that would work even better, albeit you cannot see through the sides of stainless obviously, so that's a downside of that.We all need to make up our own minds and do what we think is best for us and the risks we want to take.I haven't read all the other posts but just gonna say at this level there isn't going to be any difference in quality of beer between plastic and glass except for the instances where you are aging the beer long term. In that case I do agree glass is slightly superior but only slightly. If you think there is no ingress on the rubber bunch and air lock on glass carboys you haven't really thought this through.