Is it really necessary to own a refractometer?

Hello,

I own a hydrometer and am just getting into brewing alot and was wondering if a good hydrometer is all I need....or is investing in a refractometer (50-150 in price) is worth it?

Thanks

Hello,

No.

Hello

Yes.

Actually it isn't, but for me it's just another tool to make life easier.

No, although I never did own one.
You could probably get one cheaper on E bay though.

Only after you've broken at leat 5 hydrometers or, you get tired of cooling the volume needed for a hydro sample on brewday.

I don't think it's necessary either, but it is much easier to use on the fly than a hydrometer. One drop of wort after collecting my runnings will quickly tell me how much sugar is present in my wort. To do that with a hydrometer i'd have to collect a lot more and then chill it down to be able to use it with my hydrometer.

It is also handy as i approach the end of my boil. I can use a drop to tell me how close i am to my OG, whether i've been too aggressive with my boil early or not aggressive enough.

Finally, i don't think you have to pay even $50 for one. I know lots of people have found them on ebay for less and i know that Austin Home Brew has had them as a tuesday special for less in the last month.

I wouldn't drop big $$ on one, but having one has been very handy.

GilaMinumBeer said:

Only after you've broken at leat 5 hydrometers or, you get tired of cooling the volume needed for a hydro sample on brewday.

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These are the reasons I bought one on eBay last night, and it's handy for all grain brewing.

I don't have one. My beer is swill, though

Never have broke a hydrometer but I do use a refractometer, it's also usefull for other things, like testing grapes, fermented wine, etc.

I would say you pretty much need one or the other. At minimum a hydrometer, for convenience sake a refractometer is an upgrade..it's nice to have but not a necassity. A 1987 honda civic will get you to work in the morning, just not in the same manner as a new porshe.

Do you NEED it, no

Are they awesome, much more awesome than a hydrometer and more versatile? YES

50-150 bucks? You shopping at a LHBS? Go to Ebay and get one shipped to you for $30.

They certainly are not necessary seeing as I brew and don't have one. But I certainly want one! So I guess they're necessary if you're fully addicted?

For $30 anyday of the week on eBay, I don't know why you wouldn't get one. It makes brewday way easier and more accurate. I take measurements throughout the entire process (several times during mash, first runnings, throughout sparge, final runnings, preboil gravity, mid boil gravity check, post boil gravity, gravity into the fermenter, efficiency checks with the spent grains, the list goes on and on).

IMHO, it is a great tool for AG brewing.

Refractometers rule....

Hydrometers drool....

Never saw any need for one. If I was fly sparging, it might be useful, but I can read a final gravity directly with a hydrometer.

Is there any particular brand or options I should look for when buying one?

The Pol said:

50-150 bucks? You shopping at a LHBS? Go to Ebay and get one shipped to you for $30.

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I don't know why the LHBS and IHBS seem to think they should charge $100 for these things. They're cheap at any scientific supply place, or on ebay.

permo...that is funny.

double post...sorry

I don't even know how to read one of these things...it reads in brix...don't even know what that is. http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-0-32-ATC-Br...emQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item56377d843f

looks like a nice one.....any takers?

ILOVEBEER said:

I don't even know how to read one of these things...it reads in brix...don't even know what that is.

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I'm pretty sure all refractometers read in brix. There's tons of conversion tools/charts out there to go from brix to a SG...

I am pretty sure I could figure it out with instructions....what sounds cool about this little tool is that I can take a pipette and take small samples during my mash to check gravities then.....and keep mashing to get the specific gravities I want to be at does that sound correct?

Perhaps someone can give me a quick synopsis on how they use it...I read about it but still do not fully understand how it would benefit my brewing.

Sorry for all the dumb questions, just trying to do the best job I can with what I got.

Thanks
Joe

Basically take the brix and multiply by 4 to get gravity reading. They are accurate at 10 brix to get 1040 gravity and differ the further you go in either direction, but not enough to worry about for our use.

Brix is the ratio of sugar to liquid, both by weight. 10g of sugar in 100grams of liquid is 10 brix. I know, useless when you're used to gravity. It's multiply by 4, subtract 1 or so. You can get closer to accurate with software help.

Come on, you know you want one. Be like the cool kids.

hahahaha I do but I just want to make sure it is worth the purchase and not going to end up a useless gadget.

Bobby by the way, the sighglasses I bought from you worked out great! They take some heat (no direct flame) and stay true as can be...thanks for the great stuff!

Joe

I use my hydro for final gravity reading as alcohol will skew refractometer readings. Other than that I use my refractometer for everything prefermentation.

ILOVEBEER said:

Hello,

I own a hydrometer and am just getting into brewing alot and was wondering if a good hydrometer is all I need....or is investing in a refractometer (50-150 in price) is worth it?

Thanks

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I just got one a few weeks ago, when Austinhomebrew.com had them for $29. I love it! But, if I wasn't doing all-grain or full boils, I wouldn't use it. I like to be able to monitor my runnings when I fly sparge, and to see where I'm at at boil time so that I can adjust my hopping if I'm over or under my usual efficiency.

so, do you need one? Of course not. Are they very handy during a brewday? Absolutely.

boo boo said:

I use my hydro for final gravity reading as alcohol will skew refractometer readings. Other than that I use my refractometer for everything prefermentation.

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If you have brewing software, you can use a refractometer for very precise FG readings too. If you have the OG in Brix and the SG in Brix, it is easy peasy.

YooperBrew said:

I just got one a few weeks ago, when Austinhomebrew.com had them for $29. I love it! But, if I wasn't doing all-grain or full boils, I wouldn't use it. I like to be able to monitor my runnings when I fly sparge, and to see where I'm at at boil time so that I can adjust my hopping if I'm over or under my usual efficiency.

so, do you need one? Of course not. Are they very handy during a brewday? Absolutely.

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Agreed 100%. I almost typed the exact same thing.

Synovia said:

I don't know why the LHBS and IHBS seem to think they should charge $100 for these things. They're cheap at any scientific supply place, or on ebay.

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But they cost us $79.99 through a homebrew wholesalers and I have enough going without worrying about establishing another business relationship with another vendor for something I sell 2 a year of.

Then you should buy 2 a year from eBay and increase your profit margin.

boo boo said:

I use my hydro for final gravity reading as alcohol will skew refractometer readings. Other than that I use my refractometer for everything prefermentation.

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There is anequation to correct for the alcohol plus some of the brewing software will do it for you and there are a couple spreadsheets floating around as well. Google refractometer alcohol correction.

Coolest thing: using a refractometer AND a hydrometer, you can degas any beer (i.e., store-bought) and figure out its OG and ABV. Great for beginning a clone recipe.

passedpawn said:

Coolest thing: using a refractometer AND a hydrometer, you can degas any beer (i.e., store-bought) and figure out its OG and ABV. Great for beginning a clone recipe.

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how would you figure out its og?

I'm sold. Easier to read, saves me over a glass of beer each batch. You fill Hyd tube twice, one before fermentation, and one for FG. Cost me on a conservative batch about .50 cents a 12 oz. serving. 60 batches and refractometer is paid for. I aleady broke one hydrometer (and I rarely use them).

Dubcut said:

passedpawn said:

Coolest thing: using a refractometer AND a hydrometer, you can degas any beer (i.e., store-bought) and figure out its OG and ABV. Great for beginning a clone recipe.

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how would you figure out its og?

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I'm guessing but since you have to apply a correction to a refractometer to get an acurate final gravity (and to do so you need the starting gravity) you can probably work backwards by using the uncorrected refractometer reading and the hydrometer reading to figure out the starting gravity based on what the correction had to be.

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-0-32-ATC-Brix-Refractometer-Wine-Beer-CNC-Sugar_W0QQitemZ370298160191QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_D efaultDomain_0?hash=item56377d843f

looks like a nice one......is this the one I am looking for?

That looks like the one I got from AHS. I like it.

I work in research at Washington State University and just for curiosities sake, I borrowed an expensive, ultra-cool, top of the line, best of the so-called refractometer from one of the labs and calibrated it against my $30 ebay refractometer in my last brewing session to see if my cheap one was actually off target or not.. Believe it or not, I got nearly identical results from both..

Refracts are sweet devices. I have only ever owned 1 hydro, well 2 now, because my cat broke mine.

I don't actually own one but have used them at the microbreweries I have worked at in the past and they are rather useful.

I myself haven't seen the need for one. Take 3 ounces of wort in a shallow wide container, and stick it in the freezer. cools down to around 100F in 10 minutes or less (depending on your start temp) which is good enough to calculate a corrected reading.

anything before or during the boil can be put back in so I am not concerned. I take 1 reading before pitching, one 24 hours after pitching, another after 5 days if I plan on moving to secondary, and a final one at bottling time of course. Im not going to sweat 12-15 ounces over 5.5 gallons myself.