Hey everyone, so I just finished brewing a beer and had a major drop in efficiency, about 10%. The only thing that changed on this particular brew day was a broken hydrometer. Luckily, I had a spare on hand, but because of my drop in efficiency and no other changes in my process I assumed it had to be that my hydrometer was incorrectly calibrated. In order to check I performed a 2 point calibration, and low and behold, the hydrometer read 1 point low in DI water and 4 points low in 1.080 solution. Now, I am only left wondering how high my old hydrometer was reading? Anyone else ever perform a 2 point calibration on their hydrometer? I realized from this incident it is probably more necessary than I previously thought.
I wish someone would make a metal hydrometer. I have broken at least four of them. So I bought 2 thicker, glass finish hydrometers from NB and they are both .003 low...reading distilled water. I don't trust the refractometer math stuff for final gravity readings.
