How to increase my conversion?

own a mill? if not, you should.

although if you're not measuring (or planning on measuring) OG and FG, who cares? just make the beer and drink it. if you drink one and fall over, your ABV is probably high enough.

 

You lost me. Why can't you get a O.G reading with 1 gal batches?

 

Well, the simplest solution to your problem probably would be to mash for a slightly larger batch--maybe 1.5 gallons. That would give you enough volume so that you can test you OG. If it's low, you could probably adjust for that simply by boiling down to a lower volume (or, if worse comes to worse, adding DME or sugar). If it's high, you can dilute with water before the boil.

 

if you sanitize all of your sampling tools (hydrometer, thief, etc) you can return the sample if you are worried about losing too much.

 

See above.

Also from your avatar, I see you ferment in clear glass jugs. You could just sanitize your hydrometer and put it right into the jug....it could live there during fermentation. Would make checking gravity as simple as looking closely at the jug.

 

It's glass, easily sanitized, just don't break it inside your fermentor.

 

You could. But I'd test it first with a jug of water. The compound curvature of the glass may make it hard to read.

 

Edit: Double post.

 

Quick question. How do you bottle only doing 1 gallon batches in a glass jar without a spigot at the bottom? I have a couple 1 gallon jugs and am interested in experimenting, but I've always been concerned that the beer would get oxidized during bottling.

 

As Vikeman suggested, give it a try with some water to see if there is room and if you can read it.

 

"Is there anything I could do to increase my conversion rate? Any tips or tricks to make sure I get more converted sugars from my grains?"

Mash longer and lower, don't use too many unfermentables, high-attenuating yeast, aerate, for light beers use a little acidulated malt.

 

Would leaving it in during primary fermentation cause the hydrometer top pick up krausen, thus affecting its mass & density and affecting readings? Also you won't have degasses your sample.

 

Yes, I thought about doing this before, but assumed that krausen would get all over the hydrometer and that this would affect the readings. Has anyone actually tried putting the hydrometer directly in the fermenter?

 

I have actually never degassed my samples so i am not sure how much it would be affected. The krausen could be an issue but I think it is still worth a shot at least for the OG. At this point, the OP isn't taking any SG readings.