Refractometer

My SWMBO bought me one of these for Christmas. This is fantastic! I spent an hour calibrating it and taking samples of my fermenting beers and comparing them to the hydrometer. I converted the OG to Brix and then used the Brix during fermentation to get the current gravity. It was amazingly accurate between the two. They hydrometer said 1.047 and the converted Brix was 1.046.

This thing makes it so easy to take and test samples!!!!

:rockin:

I love mine too. I just used it for the first brewday a few weeks back and it's soooo easy to use.

I also used it to calculate my FG as well. Less mess than using a hydrometer that's for sure.

Exactly! Just have to remember to get the OG and you can so easily get the FG. Its a lot less to sanitize to take the sample and uses a lot less beer to!

I got one of these over the summer. It's REALLY easy to use, and I have a spreadsheet that does the post-fermentation conversion for me. Best gadget addition to my brewhouse yet!

Munsoned said:

I got one of these over the summer. It's REALLY easy to use, and I have a spreadsheet that does the post-fermentation conversion for me. Best gadget addition to my brewhouse yet!

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Yeah, i found a website that does the same thing! The hardest part was using enough of the beer to get an accurate reading! I was comparing hydrometer and refract. to see how close they were. The instructions say 2 to 3 drops of test solution to read it,but i found i needed about 5 to be able to see the line clearly. Other than that, calibration and the rest is simple! I kinda wanna run around the house testing random stuff, just to use it!

So what one did you get?

I'm putting together a wish list/shopping list to get started in this hobby. Are there any that are recommended over others?

Best place to buy online?

I love gadgets, this gizmo is right up my alley.

Thanks!
Jay

Mine is from Midwest supplies

I got mine from AHS during a Tuesday sale. As others have stated it's great and easy to use. Makes taking those gravity readings oh so simple.

You can also find deals for them on eBay but I like supporting the vendors here on HBT.

The thing sounded intimidating when I was getting ready to go AG, but am I glad I got one. They are so handy and easy to use when doing mashing and other hot-side operations, compared to a hydrometer. I got mine from something like "Happy Fun Luck Trading Co. of Hong Kong" on eBay. It was less than $30 delivered, and only took about a week to get here from HK.

Thanks guys, just found one on eBay. The thing that originally confused me was the ranges the vendors advertised. I got one for beer, juice and wine. I suppose that'll be sufficient.

I'm all in for supporting the vendors here too, but at more than double the price, I can't justify that.

Jay

whoneedsabeer said:

Thanks guys, just found one on eBay. The thing that originally confused me was the ranges the vendors advertised. I got one for beer, juice and wine. I suppose that'll be sufficient.

I'm all in for supporting the vendors here too, but at more than double the price, I can't justify that.

Jay

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That should be the one. A scale from 0-32 Brix is desirable.