Glass Alcoholmeter 0-96% for Spirits, 14 cm

An alcoholmeter is the simplest way to find out how strong a spirit really is. This one is a floating glass hydrometer: pour a sample into a measuring cylinder or any tall, narrow vessel, lower the instrument in and let it settle. Where the surface of the liquid crosses the scale you read the alcohol content by volume, anywhere between 0 and 96 %, to within one per cent.

The body is drawn from laboratory glass and sealed at both ends. Fine metal shot is fixed in the bulb under a red seal, so the instrument rights itself and floats upright on its own rather than leaning against the wall of the vessel. The printed scale sits inside the stem, out of reach of the liquid, and is banded in colour, so the figure you want stands out instead of having to be hunted for among identical black lines. The whole instrument is 14 cm long, weighs a few grams and is made in Poland.

It is meant for pure, sugar-free spirits: vodka, rectified spirit and home-distilled moonshine. Sugars and other dissolved solids change the density of a liquid, so a sweetened liqueur, a fruit infusion or an unfinished wash will not give a true reading on this or on any other alcoholmeter. Take the reading on the clear distillate, before anything is added to it.

That makes it equally at home beside a hobby still in the garage and on the bench of a working distillery, where a quick check part way through a run tells you exactly where the spirit stands. It arrives in a slim protective box, which is worth keeping: glass this thin lasts for years as long as it is not left loose in a drawer among heavier tools. A thermometer is not part of the set, so a separate one will be needed if you work to a fixed temperature.