Tilt hydrometer question?

Yea that was my thought too. I might be in a situation where I need to re-brew, but trying to save this batch if possible. If the FG is stuck too high I will try to restart it inside the secondary. We will see how it goes, I’m just unhappy because I have no idea what the abv will be, because the tilt could be a mess.

However, I have shaken the bucket a little bit just to see what’s up, and the gravity readings arent changing from the 1.006

Did you make a starter? If so how big?

Nah I wasnt able to this time, so I used dry yeast. Usually not a problem, I’ve used it plenty of times.

You should just check the gravity with your hydrometer or adjust from a refractometer and end the suspicion.

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Well I figured I would let it run a full 2 week primary, then I will do the measurement. Best case, everything is fine and I move on. Medium case, the fermentation was stuck, and I need to restart with more yeast and some DME. Worst case, I need to re brew the batch, which isn’t the end of the world but I hate to waste the time. But at least I can figure that out within 2 weeks, which wouldn’t be the end of the world to be 2 weeks behind schedule. I just want the beer to be ready by winter

Quick update. When I opened the bucket, the tilt had krausen all stuck to the top of it. I had sloshed the bucket around plenty of times and apparently I couldn’t shake the junk free. Since I couldn’t see inside the bucket, I couldn’t see what was going on, but that would explain why the tilt was reading weird results back to me.

“They” say the krausen/hop goo doesn’t affect the readings. Unfortunately “they” are wrong. I just can’t remember off-hand if it makes the reading too high or too low. Hmm… based on review of results from my last 3 batches, it looks like it varies – sometimes when I shook the fermenter, readings went up, and sometimes down. So, if a crudless reading is accurate within 0.001-0.002, then maybe with crud attached it’s plus or minus as much as 0.005. I shake mine early and often. I know right away as soon as gravity starts to fall the first 10 points or whatever, if I shake at that point it changes by the 0.005 or maybe even more. After fermentation is more than half done, the changes via shaking or rocking the fermenter are not quite as drastic. And then of course if I shook it 5 times over the course of 2-4 days, the Tilt comes out much cleaner than if I don’t, so the readings end up more believable in the end.

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Yea I think if the gunk sits on one side of the tilt, it makes it stand more upright. If it’s on the other side, it makes it sit more horizontal. Horizontal means higher gravity readings I believe, vertical means lower. So it varies.

Like i said I shook it lots of times, but it still had a blob of gunk covering the entire top almost, so it was messing me up. Judging by the appearance, smell, and taste… It resembles the last time I made this beer. Just a little less alcohol taste, which is better

I have 2 tilts. I guess I’ll test them one from the start and the second after krausen

One tilt lesson I have learned is that when my readings don’t seem right (and I usually read OG with a refractometer before pitching, and then with a Hydrometer for FG reading), i found my Tilt needed a battery change, then all was well.

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I cannot twist the cap off with hands… Reluctant to use a pliers… But I will have to sooner or later. Sneezles61

**Remeber to store your Tilt completely flat or vertical to shut it off when not in use. This will preserve the batteries a bit longer

You mean… Horizontal? Sneezles61

“The Tilt will go into sleep mode when you’re not brewing to save battery life. Simply stand the Tilt up or lay it on its side and it will shut off automatically.”

For those with issues getting cap off, the company actually has a tool they use to get the caps off. They will send you one if you contact them and tell them you can’t get cap off.

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Has anyone seen the new tilt pro? https://tilthydrometer.com/products/tilt-pro-wireless-hydrometer-and-thermometer

That’s cool. High Krausen can get the normal Tilt goofy but the normal tilt is fine for me

Nice but pretty pricey…

Yeah I agree. I don’t think the higher resolution of the SG is anything that I would care about. I guess I never realized the normal one only has a 1.0 temperature resolution. I think the 0.1 on the pro would be nice and maybe a more stable reading during really active fermentation. I still can’t seem to pull the trigger on the normal one though.

I have the normal one and to be honest, I rarely use it. In fact I had an issue with one and Tilt sent me a new one (great customer service). I don’t believe I’ve even used it!