Question about Refractometers....

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r8rphan

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Do you have to cool the sample to get the OG reading with these things like you do with a hydrometer?

It takes forever to cool the hydro sample even running it under ice cold tap water.... plastic is a good insulator... Thinking about making something out of copper with polycarbonate at the top end for reading...
 
Any reasonable temperature can be tested, but it just makes sense to cool the wort and than take a reading. The best benefit of using a refractometer is it only takes one or two drops for a sample rather than a whole tube that has to be tossed and not reintroduced to the batch. I take a reading just before pitching the yeast and then after fermentation.
 
I need it to see if I've extracted enough from my mash (ie pre-boil)... Cooling the wort at that stage would be a bad idea.. hence why I have to cool samples for the hydro..

But If only a drop or two are needed, then the sample should cool to room temp almost immediately, right?
 
Fairly quickly in that case. I use an eye dropper to pull samples. I brew extract so I wait until the wort is cooled to pitching temperature.
 

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