Question 1

Making wine for the first time, this will tell me the alchol % and amount of sugar needed right?

Accepted Answer

YOU need a  HYDROMETER  [H] bought in pure apple juice has 10% sugar content  so take an hydrometer reading and add sugar there are plenty of recipes on line but a 10% sugar content will give you a H or ORIGINAL SPECIFIC GRAVITY  reading  give or take 1.04/1.05 and a final SG [SPECIFIC GRAVITY] of  just under 1.00.Thise would indicate an ABV of around 5-.5%, Supermarket pure Grape juice will have a sugar content of16% give or take . If you increase that to  around 22-25% in other words add 60-90 grams per litre you should get a OG of  around 1.08-1.09 and a final SG of around 0.985-0.988 which would represent an ABV of between 12 and 14 %. IT takes a considerable time to become an expert and a few ponts her and there hardly make much of a difference.  Not being a purist I've made some excellent cider from 'apple juice from concentrate' but make sure you take a peek at the lable and that it contains no PRESERVATIVES or other additives. You cannot expect to become a wine master overnight. But you can make a hlf deent and  very drinkable tiple or two. There are plenty of people on the net willing to share information.    By the way you can purchase a dedicated ALCOHOL CONTENT HYDROMETER which will give readings from  pure water [at25%C] to pure alcohol. In my case I tested it on METHYLATED SPIRITS which is around 96% alcohol. On this measure BEER is usually take n to be  3.5 -5.5% ABV wine 10 to 14% ABV, Liqueurs 16-20% ABV and most commercial Spirits between 37.5 and 40% ABV.

Question 2

How much liquid does the hydrometer displace?, ie. how much beer to put in to take a reading ?

Accepted Answer

I'd practise with water in the sampling jar first...you want the hydrometer to float so you can give it a gentle spin in the liquid.

Question 3

does this contain mercury

Accepted Answer

The one I received is weighted with lead shot I haven't seen any in a long time weighted with mercury!

Question 4

Hi is the calibration temperature 15C or 20C?

Accepted Answer

As I recall, its designed to be read from 20C. It does however come with a chart which shows how to compensate readings for other temperatures. The deviations are small and its not really a complex issue anyway. So it can be used easily for a wide temp range.

ASIN	B0722QYJSZ
Best Sellers Rank	3,625 in Home & Kitchen ( See Top 100 in Home & Kitchen ) 1 in Hydrometers
Brand	Thermometer World
Colour	Transparent
Customer Reviews	4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars (2,902)
Date First Available	3 May 2017
Guaranteed software updates until	unknown
Item Weight	130 g
Material	Plastic
Model Number	1
Package Dimensions	26.7 x 7.7 x 7.2 cm; 130 g

Home Brew Hydrometer with Included 100 Millimeter Trial Sampling Jar | Home Brew Equipment For Wine and Beer Making Testing Kit and Brewing Your Own Homebrew

Description

Specifications

Common Questions