Northern Brewer - Herculometer Polycarbonate Shatterproof Triple Scale Hydrometer

Don't bother with the thin, glass hydrometers (or as they're so often called "hy-DROP-eters") that shatter so easily, spraying tiny lead or steel weights all over the room. If you're buying glass ones, buy at least 3. You'll need the replacements, while this Herculometer can handle repeated 12 foot falls and stay accurate, where a typical hydrometer shatters if it is fumbled from the table-top. Also, disregard the old claims that Herculometers are inaccurate. Mine is dead-on 1.000 SG in distilled water. Tough and accurate are about all you can ask for in a basic float hydrometer. As far as ease of reading, no hydrometer will make it easy to read if you're farsighted, but this one has numbers that I can read without glasses and still manages the definition needed to be accurate. Word of advise though, regardless of what kind of hydrometer you buy, make sure the graduated cylinder is small enough to minimize the amount of liquid you're testing. I got a 250 ml cylinder and it's way too big. This is not the fault of anyone but myself.

I bought this because I did break a glass hydrometer. There is a lot of durability tests on YouTube. I will say for as much as I use it I don’t have to worry about it ever breaking. I did knock it off my kitchen table and it went down stairs about a 10 foot drop and nothing happened to it. It still works as it should.

Im clumsy and broke 3 glass ones in a year. I'm thrilled to have this one.

Great product. Much less likely to break. The previous 2 broke quickly. Were very fragile. This one is much stronger and easier to read.

Basic and durable

After breaking three different hydrometers I decided it was time to give this one a try. I should have started here. It’s easy to use, is accurate, easy to read and of great quality. It’s used exactly the same as any other more fragile hydrometer and is the same size and shape. Only difference is I haven’t been able to break it! Gotta love that.

Although it is a great idea to have a hydrometer that will not break easily, the way they have assembled all these parts are really unprofessional. The top part (small black plastic knob) was already loose and was dropped inside the protective tube/casing. When tried to put it back, it stays very loose, which means, when you will use/wash/sanitize the hydrometer, liquid will enter the tube inside where the scale markings are. And, if you now try to fix that loose knob by using some kind of glue then the readings will change due to the slight weight of that glue.

Was always breaking my hydrometers while beer making, then I found this. While not unbreakable, it is super forgiving