StillSmart

So, I thought I would buy a hydrometer to start taking start and finish readings, never having done it before.

I thought it would be straight forward but, I was wrong.

The numbers are all over the place and I cant get my head around the readings.

Please help.

The pic below is my hydrometer, sorry for the quality of pic.

The place to start is the top blue/orange segment. Can you see the black line in between the segments ? That is 1000. When you drop the hydrometer in water that is where the water level will cut the hydrometer.
As you add sugar to the water the hydrometer will float higher so the liquid level will move down the scale.
In the next orange scale is 1100.
Lets say hypothetically you have 6.5 kg of sugar and 21 litres of hot water. Mix them up, let the temp drop to 20 degrees and throw your hydrometer in. The wash will cut the hydrometer about 1100.
Now chuck your yeast in and let it ferment. Lets say the CO2 stops and you chuck your hydrometer in again. Hopefully it will now be sitting a lot lower in the wash - somewhere between 990 and 1000 (lets say 995). The difference between the two readings is the amount of sugar that had been turned into alochol.
So Original gravity is 1100 and your final gravity is 995 or 105 difference. Divide that by 7.36 and you get the potential ABV in your wash (in this case 14.25%)
Does that make sense ??

it does and I understand the theory behind reading, its the actual reading.

The bottom orange section is where I started, the top mark is 1.100 and I was at 1 mark below that.

So does that make it 1098?

My finished reading was in the top orange section 1 marking below the 1000.

Why cant they just have numbers???

I started with 8kg Sugar and 22lt Water and I took the start reading before yeast went in.

Thanks MrCat

Try this Andy.
http://www.stillsmart.co.uk/forum/topic.php?id=374