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sight glass

beernbourbon

Grandmaster Brewer
Joined
Oct 20, 2012
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Location
Cincinnati Ohio...Home of the resurrected Christia
Ok, so I'm gonna ask a total n00b question; :eek:
I see info about making sight glasses, having sight glasses, etc.
I know what one is....per se.... but what exactly is it for? I was under the impression I could use it in place of my hydrometer.... "I like a sight glass because I don't have to guess at the angle to get my gravity".
However, everything else I've seen seems to point to only using it to get an accurate read of your volume, be it in your mash tun, or your brew kettle.
I'm just trying to decide if it's worth the work to add it on, etc.

Thanks!
 
Hydrometers measure sg, whereas sight glasses are used to measure volume. The only way I could see you using a sight glass to measure sg is if its inside diameter was larger enough float your hydrometer in while still attached to your vessel. Uses aside I have a sight glass on my HLT and BK and would have to think about which to give up first, my first born son or the sight glasses. Thats my 2cents
 
Ok, that makes a lot more sense. I was kinda wonderin'....but you know how things can be mis-read. Probably my tore up eyes seein' things wrong.
So, now question is, how do I get one on to my aluminum pot. Here I thought it was a good thing....turkey frier pot (brand new of course) that has a big flare at the top designed to contain oil boil-overs. Yeah....gonna be in the way of a sight glass.... means bigger pot....but that means bigger burner.....grrr....thought I was done buyin' for at least a couple weeks.... :eek:
Just have to continue to be careful with my measurements for now.
Thanks guys!!!
 
I really like the stuff from brewhardware.com. Bobby has some really neat things there I would check it out if your looking for a sight glass.
 
I made a dip stick using copper tubing and one from pvc.  I filled my kettle one gallon at a time and marked off the level on the dip stick.  I like to measure from the surface level to the top of the kettle so I lowered the dip stick until it touched the top of the water then mark the part at the rim of my pot.  I did that for 5 gallons then used a ruler to measure the distance between marks then measured and marked the remaining levels. 
 
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