I recently purchased a wine thief, tired of the turkey-baster game.

I've discovered that it doesn't seem to be enough wider than my
hydrometer--the hydrometer sticks. Sometimes it even blocks the flow of
must into the thief.

I suppose the solution is another hydrometer. Right now, I have a
garden variety cheap beer hydrometer (which I was surprised to find in
my cabinet, as I rarely used it--"Yeah, it has a gravity. Not much I
can do about it now ").

Anyway, is it worth paying any more than a couple of bucks, assuming
that I stick to brewking/winexpert style kits for the forseable future?
I really don't use it for much more than insuring that the wine is done
fermenting.

And, getting down to business, can anyone tell me what brands/names
actually work and float inside a wine thief?

And is there some trick to figuring out when the little gadget at the
bottom of the wine thief will block flow, and when it won't?

hawk
--
Richard E. Hawkins, Asst. Prof. of Economics /"\ ASCII ribbon campaign
111 Hiller (814) 375-4846 \ / against HTML mail
Find commentary on law, economics, and X and postings.
other issues of the day at dochawk.org! / \

A wine thief must be narrow enough to fit down in most carboys. I have
never had a hydrometer that would fit inside one. I always use a separate
hydrometer jar or cylinder to put the hydrometer in and then empty the wine
thief into that jar. You can get a plastic one for $2 or $3. That is
cheaper than buying another hydrometer. It is one more item that must be
disinfected but ...

Ray

"Dr. Richard E. Hawkins" > wrote in message
...
>I recently purchased a wine thief, tired of the turkey-baster game.
>
> I've discovered that it doesn't seem to be enough wider than my
> hydrometer--the hydrometer sticks. Sometimes it even blocks the flow of
> must into the thief.
>
> I suppose the solution is another hydrometer. Right now, I have a
> garden variety cheap beer hydrometer (which I was surprised to find in
> my cabinet, as I rarely used it--"Yeah, it has a gravity. Not much I
> can do about it now ").
>
> Anyway, is it worth paying any more than a couple of bucks, assuming
> that I stick to brewking/winexpert style kits for the forseable future?
> I really don't use it for much more than insuring that the wine is done
> fermenting.
>
> And, getting down to business, can anyone tell me what brands/names
> actually work and float inside a wine thief?
>
> And is there some trick to figuring out when the little gadget at the
> bottom of the wine thief will block flow, and when it won't?
>
> hawk
> --
> Richard E. Hawkins, Asst. Prof. of Economics /"\ ASCII ribbon
> campaign
> 111 Hiller (814) 375-4846 \ / against HTML mail
> Find commentary on law, economics, and X and postings.
> other issues of the day at dochawk.org! / \

A wine thief must be narrow enough to fit down in most carboys. I have
never had a hydrometer that would fit inside one. I always use a separate
hydrometer jar or cylinder to put the hydrometer in and then empty the wine
thief into that jar. You can get a plastic one for $2 or $3. That is
cheaper than buying another hydrometer. It is one more item that must be
disinfected but ...

Ray

"Dr. Richard E. Hawkins" > wrote in message
...
>I recently purchased a wine thief, tired of the turkey-baster game.
>
> I've discovered that it doesn't seem to be enough wider than my
> hydrometer--the hydrometer sticks. Sometimes it even blocks the flow of
> must into the thief.
>
> I suppose the solution is another hydrometer. Right now, I have a
> garden variety cheap beer hydrometer (which I was surprised to find in
> my cabinet, as I rarely used it--"Yeah, it has a gravity. Not much I
> can do about it now ").
>
> Anyway, is it worth paying any more than a couple of bucks, assuming
> that I stick to brewking/winexpert style kits for the forseable future?
> I really don't use it for much more than insuring that the wine is done
> fermenting.
>
> And, getting down to business, can anyone tell me what brands/names
> actually work and float inside a wine thief?
>
> And is there some trick to figuring out when the little gadget at the
> bottom of the wine thief will block flow, and when it won't?
>
> hawk
> --
> Richard E. Hawkins, Asst. Prof. of Economics /"\ ASCII ribbon
> campaign
> 111 Hiller (814) 375-4846 \ / against HTML mail
> Find commentary on law, economics, and X and postings.
> other issues of the day at dochawk.org! / \

With kit wines the must is pretty well balanced, but I use the
hydrometer all the time so it is a judgement call

What you bought is really not really a wine thief. I have one of them
too and never use it, it dribbles like yours and that annoys me. I may
have given it away already.

A good hydrometer will have a large bulb in reference to the stem, so
you could go for a narrow one and just live with less resolution. Even
a cheap one is better thasn nothing if you calibrate it in reference to
water at 60 F.

You can get an unbreakable thief made of plastic in 3 segments and a
100 ml graduated cylinder for around $10; the cylinder can do double
duty as a hydrometer jar.

Joe


Dr. Richard E. Hawkins wrote:
> I recently purchased a wine thief, tired of the turkey-baster game.
>
> I've discovered that it doesn't seem to be enough wider than my
> hydrometer--the hydrometer sticks. Sometimes it even blocks the flow
of
> must into the thief.
>

"Joe Sallustio" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> You can get an unbreakable thief made of plastic in 3 segments and a
> 100 ml graduated cylinder for around $10; the cylinder can do double
> duty as a hydrometer jar.

I don't know what kind of hydrometer you have, but mine won't fit into a
100ml graduate. 500ml is more like it. Wine Art makes a plastic
hydrometer jar (ungraduated) about that size for not much $.

For winemaking, I find 50 and 100ml graduates each come in handy, as do 1
and 10ml graduated pipettes.

Tom S

"Joe Sallustio" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> You can get an unbreakable thief made of plastic in 3 segments and a
> 100 ml graduated cylinder for around $10; the cylinder can do double
> duty as a hydrometer jar.

I don't know what kind of hydrometer you have, but mine won't fit into a
100ml graduate. 500ml is more like it. Wine Art makes a plastic
hydrometer jar (ungraduated) about that size for not much $.

For winemaking, I find 50 and 100ml graduates each come in handy, as do 1
and 10ml graduated pipettes.

Tom S

Good point, but even my widest one fits in my 100 ml's. It's a
Dujardin Salleron. That said, a 250 ml or 500 ml probably does make
more sense. I'm sure there are hydrometers out there that might be too
close to the walls of a 100 ml even if they did fit and that could mess
with the measurement.

I also use the 100 ml to measure distilled water used to rehydrate
Hydrion buffer capsules for pH buffers. It's a really cheap way to get
fresh reliable buffers. I should use a volumetric flask, but I don't
have a 100 ml (yet). I'm looking at glassware in Cynmar and it's
pretty inexpensive.

Joe



> I don't know what kind of hydrometer you have, but mine won't fit
into a
> 100ml graduate. 500ml is more like it. Wine Art makes a plastic
> hydrometer jar (ungraduated) about that size for not much $.
>
> For winemaking, I find 50 and 100ml graduates each come in handy, as
do 1
> and 10ml graduated pipettes.
>
> Tom S

Good point, but even my widest one fits in my 100 ml's. It's a
Dujardin Salleron. That said, a 250 ml or 500 ml probably does make
more sense. I'm sure there are hydrometers out there that might be too
close to the walls of a 100 ml even if they did fit and that could mess
with the measurement.

I also use the 100 ml to measure distilled water used to rehydrate
Hydrion buffer capsules for pH buffers. It's a really cheap way to get
fresh reliable buffers. I should use a volumetric flask, but I don't
have a 100 ml (yet). I'm looking at glassware in Cynmar and it's
pretty inexpensive.

Joe



> I don't know what kind of hydrometer you have, but mine won't fit
into a
> 100ml graduate. 500ml is more like it. Wine Art makes a plastic
> hydrometer jar (ungraduated) about that size for not much $.
>
> For winemaking, I find 50 and 100ml graduates each come in handy, as
do 1
> and 10ml graduated pipettes.
>
> Tom S

"Dr. Richard E. Hawkins" > wrote in message
...
>I recently purchased a wine thief, tired of the turkey-baster game.
>
> I've discovered that it doesn't seem to be enough wider than my
> hydrometer--the hydrometer sticks. Sometimes it even blocks the flow of
> must into the thief.
>
> I suppose the solution is another hydrometer. Right now, I have a
> garden variety cheap beer hydrometer (which I was surprised to find in
> my cabinet, as I rarely used it--"Yeah, it has a gravity. Not much I
> can do about it now ").
>
> Anyway, is it worth paying any more than a couple of bucks, assuming
> that I stick to brewking/winexpert style kits for the forseable future?
> I really don't use it for much more than insuring that the wine is done
> fermenting.
>
> And, getting down to business, can anyone tell me what brands/names
> actually work and float inside a wine thief?
>
> And is there some trick to figuring out when the little gadget at the
> bottom of the wine thief will block flow, and when it won't?
>
> hawk
> --
> Richard E. Hawkins, Asst. Prof. of Economics /"\ ASCII ribbon
> campaign
> 111 Hiller (814) 375-4846 \ / against HTML mail
> Find commentary on law, economics, and X and postings.
> other issues of the day at dochawk.org! / \


I just have a general all purpose thief and hydrometer, nothing special
about either one, but it does fit inside my 23 litre Mexican carboy. Just
bought the one my wine supply store had, they don't have a big selection -
one model. I do sometimes wish mine were wider, as I have to hold it exactly
level to get a reading, but with a bit of fiddling I can get one.

However, it does drip a bit. I have a bathmat on the floor just outside my
winemaking closet for just that purpose though - never fails, I'll spill
something! Just did it last night actually, carrying my newest bucket of
white zinfandel from the top of the deep freeze to the closet resulted in
some spilling, as always, no matter how hard I try. I just hope the yeast
didn't jump out. Thank God I have hardwood and a Swiffer. My basement floors
are always sticky!

KD