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Fall Bright has been providing winemaking supplies, grapes, juices (plus brewing supplies) for amateur winemakers for over 20 years.
An old grape packing house provides a home for Fall Bright.
How to read a hydrometer
View your hydrometer floating in the juice sample at eye level. The balling scale is the brix or sugar percentage. In addition to the balling scale, a triple scale hydrometer offers a
scale for specific gravity and for potential alcohol.
Reading a +5-5 hydrometer: If the reading is below a (negative) -1.5 degrees or -2 degrees, then the wine is dry. If the hydrometer
is higher than a (negative) -1.5, such as a 0 reading or a plus 1 degrees, then there is residual sugar and one may attempt to restart. To restart go to
101winemaking
and read about stuck wine.
Hydrometers are calibrated at specific
temperatures and the reading for a sample of a different temperature need to be
adjusted. At
this link is a calibration table for a hydrometer calibrated for 68F. degrees
Fermtech Wine Thief Instructions. This is a slick item for testing. It is 19" long, plastic, and allows for you to pull a sample, drop in the
hydrometer, take the reading and release the sample back into the carboy.
This thief is a nice little item, but it will not accommodate the specialty
hydrometers, such as the +5-5. You will need a 14" regular
hydrometer jar for them.
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