New Brunswick Craft Brewers Association

Brewing => Equipment => Topic started by: Chris Craig on January 02, 2012, 12:55:58 PM

Title: Refractometer
Post by: Chris Craig on January 02, 2012, 12:55:58 PM

I just got my refractometer in the mail.  It has automatic temperature correction.  Anybody have experience with these?  Any advice, words of caution, etc?  I suppose I should be measuring gravity with a hydrometer as well until I have some confidence in this new toy.

Title: Re: Refractometer
Post by: Ian Grant on January 02, 2012, 01:18:41 PM

There easy to use just a couple drops and bam there's your gravity.  For FG there is a formula to use can't  remember what the website is but I think it was on the morebeer site.   Alcohol causes it to have a false reading which the formula will correct.

Title: Re: Refractometer
Post by: JohnQ on January 02, 2012, 03:58:51 PM

The formula is also built into beertools, under the refractometer tab, you enter the current brix and the OG it gives you the current gravity corrected.

JQ

Title: Re: Refractometer
Post by: fakr on January 03, 2012, 08:47:50 AM

good plan on using a hydrometer with the refractometer until you're comfortable with just the one.
I had a couple of questionable alcohol % calculations just using the refractometer, and I would have liked to have a hydrometer reading just to make sure.  I've since taken as accurate a measure with the refractometer as possible, no rounding up or down the numbers.  Confirmed with a hydrometer a couple of times and am good now.

Title: Re: Refractometer
Post by: Chris Craig on January 03, 2012, 09:36:58 AM

It seems that BeerSmith also does the calculations for you.  Overall, I think it's going to be an improvement in my process.  No more wasting 4 oz of wort/beer for every gravity reading.

Title: Re: Refractometer
Post by: Kyle on January 03, 2012, 09:55:57 AM

You do have the option of not taking a gravity reading. Since I know my system fairly well, I was getting very accurate predictions of O.G. with the Beertools software, now I only bother checking gravity for attempted clones or really big beers. Otherwise its just another thing to wash and sanitize after a brewday.

Title: Re: Refractometer
Post by: Chris Craig on January 03, 2012, 10:02:17 AM

I've only been brewing all-grain beer since September, and I've been making changes to my equipment (bigger kettle, changes to the mash tun, etc).  At this point, I still really want to know if I'm hitting the numbers I should be hitting.  A refractometer will make things easier for me.

Once I get better at my process, I'll probably start to slack on the measurements a bit.

Title: Re: Refractometer
Post by: Dave Savoie on January 04, 2012, 08:16:36 AM

my Hydrometer has been broken for many many months so I have no idea what my beers are as far as ABV