Hydrometer broken? And is Wilko brew sugar ok for priming?

[Bootcutboy]

Hi all

I have my first lager brewing, a Wilkos Light lager 4% kit, which has just stopped bubbling and has been at 1.014 for a couple days, I am hoping it still goes down further as it is only 3.3% at present, I’d probably be able to drink the entire FV worth in one sitting at that strength haha.

Anyway I just have a couple of questions and it would be great if anyone could help please:

Firstly my hydrometer has some very light condensation inside it, is this normal? There is no water actually swishing about but I am concerned that my reading may be compromised. Please see pics attached.

Also as I am almost at bottling and priming stage will Wilko’s own make brewing sugar suffice as I have half a bag left over or if not what would other people suggest to use to add the fizz?

Thanks in advance if you can help me out.

 

[Drunkula]

If you're looking at the stuff around the black goo at the bottom that looks like the bubbles that form when they pour the lead and muck in there.

Just test it in some tap water. It should read 1.000. If it doesn't then note how far high or low it is and account for that in future readings.

And brewing sugar is fine to prime with - as is pretty much all sugars. I'm going to be bottle priming with Haribo for a laugh soon to see if they'll carbonate and act like finings.

 

[Bootcutboy]

If you're looking at the stuff around the black goo at the bottom that looks like the bubbles that form when they pour the lead and muck in there.

Just test it in some tap water. It should read 1.000. If it doesn't then note how far high or low it is and account for that in future readings.

And brewing sugar is fine to prime with - as is pretty much all sugars. I'm going to be bottle priming with Haribo for a laugh soon to see if they'll carbonate and act like finings.

Hi there, I just checked and my hydrometer is measuring 1.004 in normal tap water, so should I just adjust my readings to suit then?

actually editing this last comment it won’t make any difference as the hydrometer will have been measuring incorrectly from the beginning so I guess it cancels itself out and the alc% at the end will not be affected? Is this correct? I am trying to figure this out in my head after 2 pints of Gina hic!
Thanks for the help

 

[Drunkula]

it won’t make any difference as the hydrometer will have been measuring incorrectly from the beginning so I guess it cancels itself out and the alc% at the end will not be affected? Is this correct?

Yep, as long as you're using the same hydrometer you're fine. If you're taking notes write down about the discrepancy. It's definitely worth keeping a log of all your brews because it's so easy to forget what's good or not. So yeah, looks like you're at 1.010 for that kit which is where loads of them finish.

I just double checked and both of mine have the exact same look in the gunky resin puddle.