thanks kurt...a hydrometer...hmmm, mmm-hmmm, ahh-mmm-hmmm...
(i'm pretending i'm a mad scientist)

i'm not likely to be good at guessing at it, though...by that time, it would be too late. <img src="http://www.arlo.net/ubb/smilies/smile.gif" width=15 height=15>

Yep! Kurt is exactly right. The hydrometer (which sounds like it should be some gizmo that does weird scientifical stuff but all it really does is floats and looks sort of like a candy thermometer, which doesn't mean a thermometer made of candy, but one for making candy! Phew!) gives you the S.G. readings (S.G. not meaning the model of a Gibson electric guitar but "specific gravity"). There's a few different scales on the hydrometer, one being potential percentage of alcohol.

In the old days they used to use an egg, or so I read. When the must stopped perkin' and an egg floated with just a tad of it pokin' out at the surface, the brew was considered ready to bottle. They didn't much care about specific gravity or alcohol percentage as much as they did about just gettin' a buzz.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Captain Zap:
In the old days they used to use an egg, or so I read. When the must stopped perkin' and an egg floated with just a tad of it pokin' out at the surface, the brew was considered ready to bottle. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

who would think of that...i love it!!

<center><FONT COLOR="#000080">--- Edited 1 times, lastly by agnes on Feb 22, 2006 ---</FONT></center>