RE: [Cider Workshop] Ebulliometers ( was 'Calculating the abv of a cider using sg drop')
David Llewellyn
You’ll find old ebulliometers on ebay for less than £100. Just be careful you’re sure the mercury thermometer isn’t broken. If it is, you could replace it with a good digital thermometer with steel probe.
I’m a bit puzzled about why there are constantly ebulliometers for sale on ebay! Were they once very commonly owned by wineries? Did every little winery have one in the old days? Or were merchants using them to test the wines they were trading? Any ideas anyone? Andrew?
David Llewellyn
Tel: + 353 87 2843879
From:
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On Behalf Of Llanblethian Orchards
- Alex
Sent: 29 December 2015 18:49
To: Cider Workshop
Subject: [Cider Workshop] Re:
Calculating the abv of a cider using sg drop.
Ahh thanks for your answer Claude. One of these days im going to have
to fork out for an ebulliometer and have a look with it myself
Alex
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Claude Jolicoeur
You’ll find old ebulliometers on ebay for less than £100. Just be careful you’re sure the mercury thermometer isn’t broken. If it is, you could replace it with a good digital thermometer with steel probe.
Yes, I got mine a few years ago from France for just under 100 EUR. It is a Dujardin-Salleron of 1932 in perfect condition in its wooden box. There were even new spare wicks for the burner in the kit!
I’m a bit puzzled about why there are constantly ebulliometers for sale on ebay! Were they once very commonly owned by wineries? Did every little winery have one in the old days?
I would think most small wineries had one. There must have been tens of thousands of these sold through the years. The original Dujardin-Salleron still sells almost unchanged from the 1880 design! But nowadays they also have a digital model with electric heating, which is easier to use.
Claude
David Llewellyn
I have a similar 1922 Austrian one myself, came in box with original calibration certificate and instructions in German, with original hand-typed translation from the manufacturer for its original English owner! I accidentally broke the thermometer a few years ago, and then replaced it with a digital one, which I now find more satisfactory than the original glass one anyway! The ebulliometer works really well, and is very satisfying to use!
Every cider/wine maker should have one!
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bob_luke
I picked an eBay ebulliometer and had been using isopropyl rubbing alcohol to fuel the heater. The alcohol content of this fuel is pretty low so it took a long time to get up to temperature and get a reading. I tested several white wines with it, just to check the accuracy of the instrument, and it was spot on. But the slowness bothered me, especially when I had a lot of tests to do because I could only fit in two before I exceeded my barometric pressure baseline window. So I decided to switch to denatured alcohol.
Wow, it was very fast! But I also noticed that my cider had a lower ABV than I had thought. Then, looking closely at the mercury column to check my results, I saw that it was dropping before my eyes! 5 to 4 to 3.5 to 3.25... Is it so hot that it is boiling off the alcohol as I am watching? Does using this fuel give only a small amount of time to record the AVB? The size of the sample in the ebulliometer is 50 ml. What would you recommend.
Wes Cherry
Claude Jolicoeur
Claude you have a lot of experience with ebulliometers (and pretty much everything else cider-related) so I have a question about the fuel for the heater lamp.
If I remember correctly, I bought for this a bottle of fuel normally used for fondue heater, and it works perfectly. I can't tell you what type of alcohol it is however.
Claude
Nick Edwards
Nick Edwards
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Kingston Black - Winner of South of England Cider Competition 2015
Sent on the run!
From: Claude Jolicoeur
Sent: 05/07/2016 20:59
To: Cider Workshop
Subject: Re: [Cider Workshop] Ebulliometers ( was 'Calculating the abv of a cider using sg drop')
jo...@chapeldown.com
Bob Luke
Thanks for the tips everyone!
/bob
Ben
We also got one off second hand (126 year old one) and replaced the broken thermometer with an expensive digital one apparently precise to 0.03C+-.
We use a magic heat (gel heater) off eBay to heat it, which is a tad quicker but not too quick. We previously had an issue where the whole thing had flames on it and fell apart after spilt meths so best to avoid!
Not sure if you have the same issue but for us the digital thermometer bounces around a bit. Only by .1C+- however with 2 decimal places makes it look like more. To try and work out the temperature we plot the temperature every 10 seconds to establish best reading. We pick the coistent high but take down a range to check whatever end was picked the ABV would not vary significantly.
For those that use a digital thermometer is that how you do it. Is there a better way? The challenge for us is understanding when a rise in Temperature is because it has already settled and is now moving up (burning off alchol) or if it is still moving to the right point.
We have invested in some calibrated Hydrometers so we have both readings going forwards :)