Alcohol and Brix Refractometer

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explosivebeer

explosivebeer

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I know people have had very positive things to say about the 0-32% Brix refractometers on ebay but I was curious about the ones that also include a scale for measuring alcohol. Specifically, here are a couple examples:

New Wine Alcohol Grape Refractometer 25%VOL, 40%Brix P0 - eBay (item 230310914792 end time Dec-28-08 21:16:28 PST)

Grape Wine Refractometer, Alcohol 0-25% & Brix 0-40% d - eBay (item 230313259383 end time Dec-18-08 20:59:37 PST)

Does the alcohol scale have any value? I'm mostly interested in the 0-40% brix since I've played with some higher gravity beers and might actually put the extra 8 brix to use. I guess I'm curious about what this "approximate value degree alcohol" is and if it would be useful for brewing. Is it just a potential alcohol scale like on a hydrometer or does it measure actual alcohol content?
 
Not really. Potential alcohol scales on any measuring device are just making a general assumption of typical attenuation. Of course this is sketchy. Beer yeasts average about 75%. It looks like they assume a 15 brix wine would produce 10% ABV but that would be like a beer going from 1.060 OG down to .980. That's not going to happen.

As far as the most useful brix scale is concerned, keep in mind 1 brix = about 1.004 SG. So 40 brix is 1.160 and even very big barley wines don't go there. I like the 0-32 brix. In the rare chance you need to measure something above that range, you can do a 50/50 dilution with water then double the reading.
 
Cool, thanks for clarifying. I thought it might be based on expected attenuation but I wasn't sure.

As for the high gravity stuff, I actually made a very high-gravity addition to add to a high-gravity batch that was already fermenting. It was above the 1.170 on my hydrometer so I'm not sure how high it was, but it was big. Regardless, that's a pretty rare occurrence. And your suggestion of diluting it is a very good one. Thanks.
 
I have a question about a refractometer as well. I have read on the board that they are not good to use when you are taking the gravity reading to see if your beer is done fermenting. This doesn't make any sense to me, should it be accurate no matter when you take a gravity reading?
 
And that they are not as accurate as a hydrometer? My hydrometer was off 4 points... Yeah, figure out how long it takes before you calibrate your hydrometer...:(
 
thedude123 said:
I have a question about a refractometer as well. I have read on the board that they are not good to use when you are taking the gravity reading to see if your beer is done fermenting. This doesn't make any sense to me, should it be accurate no matter when you take a gravity reading?
Click to expand...

My understanding is that since refractometers use prisms to reflect light and measure the sugar content based on how that light is reflected, alcohol skews the measurement slightly.

MoreBeer created a little spreadsheet to correct the readings. You can watch a video of it here: MoreBeer!™: Using a refractometer in brewing | MoreBeer

It's really easy and you don't waste any beer in your process. Anyway, I hope that helps.
 
explosivebeer said:
My understanding is that since refractometers use prisms to reflect light and measure the sugar content based on how that light is reflected, alcohol skews the measurement slightly.

MoreBeer created a little spreadsheet to correct the readings. You can watch a video of it here: MoreBeer!™: Using a refractometer in brewing | MoreBeer

It's really easy and you don't waste any beer in your process. Anyway, I hope that helps.
Click to expand...

Thats the spreadsheet I use with my ATC Refractometer I purchased from Morebeer. Seems to work fine, just make sure you put your OG up top and your next (FG) gravity readings down below to show the proper FG. I was just using the top for the OG then adding the FG brix in the same place and found out later that it was off.
 
Bobby_M said:
Not really. Potential alcohol scales on any measuring device are just making a general assumption of typical attenuation. Of course this is sketchy. Beer yeasts average about 75%. It looks like they assume a 15 brix wine would produce 10% ABV but that would be like a beer going from 1.060 OG down to .980. That's not going to happen.

As far as the most useful brix scale is concerned, keep in mind 1 brix = about 1.004 SG. So 40 brix is 1.160 and even very big barley wines don't go there. I like the 0-32 brix. In the rare chance you need to measure something above that range, you can do a 50/50 dilution with water then double the reading.
Click to expand...

Such a quicker and more easy calculation. :rockin: Thanks
 
explosivebeer said:
It's really easy and you don't waste any beer in your process. Anyway, I hope that helps.
Click to expand...

I never waste beer when taking a sample. A sample for me serves two purposes, 1) to check the gravity, and 2) see, smell and taste. I don't have a refractometer, but if I did, it would be for checking the pre-fermentation wort only. I like to know how my beer is coming along, and seeing, smelling, and tasting are all things we do when drinking the final product, so why not do that during the fermentation process?
 
Firstnten said:
Such a quicker and more easy calculation. :rockin: Thanks
Click to expand...

It's worth noting that the "multiply by 4" rule is quick and easy, but only accurate up to about 13 Plato/Brix. Above that you'll need to use a calculator to get within 0.001 SG. 40°Plato, for example, is actually 1.180.

It's also worth noting that the FG correlation isn't accurate for me, although other brewers swear by it. I've actually come up with a correction factor that seems to compensate; there's a spreadsheet on my site.
 
Bobby_M said:
Not really. Potential alcohol scales on any measuring device are just making a general assumption of typical attenuation. Of course this is sketchy. Beer yeasts average about 75%. It looks like they assume a 15 brix wine would produce 10% ABV but that would be like a beer going from 1.060 OG down to .980. That's not going to happen.

As far as the most useful brix scale is concerned, keep in mind 1 brix = about 1.004 SG. So 40 brix is 1.160 and even very big barley wines don't go there. I like the 0-32 brix. In the rare chance you need to measure something above that range, you can do a 50/50 dilution with water then double the reading.
Click to expand...

You're right that 0-32 really covers just about everything you'd need. But the 1 brix = 0.004 SG over 1.0 estimate gets out of whack with higher gravities. For instance, the estimate is 32 brix =1.128 SG, but it's actually 1.139 (at 68F).

http://www.boulder.nist.gov/div838/SelectedPubs/Circular 440 Table 114.pdf has a chart mapping brix to SG.
 
One tradeoff for the increased range of the 0-40 hydrometers is that the scale is probably still the same size. It's difficult enough to determine which line is closest to the division on a 0-32 - after you've been squinting for a bit they all tend to start swimming around, and I imagine it would only become more difficult on a 0-40 unit. Probably not worth the increased hassle for a once-in-a-great-while crazy high-octane brew.
 

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