Refractometer

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HoppyMcHopster

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How useful do you find a refractometer is? Should I invest in one if I plan on moving to AG real soon? If so, any recommendations?
 
HoppyMcHopster said:
How useful do you find a refractometer is? Should I invest in one if I plan on moving to AG real soon? If so, any recommendations?
Click to expand...

Never used one and haven't seen the need
 
But every time I see Brew TV guys using one they look so cool, kind of like a Pirate using a telescope!
On the more serious side.... every time I see someone use one they are always calling out numbers as if they have to due some sort of calculation from what they see in the refractometer to get the correct number. Is this the case?
 
BeerguyNC61 said:
But every time I see Brew TV guys using one they look so cool, kind of like a Pirate using a telescope!
Click to expand...

thats the reason

On the more serious side.... every time I see someone use one they are always calling out numbers as if they have to due some sort of calculation from what they see in the refractometer to get the correct number. Is this the case?
Click to expand...

thats the drill
 
Let's not be so vague. A refractometer gives you the sugar concentration of wort with only a drop on the window. You need to employ conversions and spreadsheets to use it for gravity measurements once there is alcohol in the sample. The conversion is known to be of variable accuracy, +/- a point or two.

I use a refractometer on brew day, then a hydrometer after that. Personal preference.
 
Since he's too modest, if you do decide to buy one, get one from Bobby_M. Good price, and great customer service.

http://www.brewhardware.com/refractometer

Bobby, are you going to sell replacement pippettes? Mine (that I didn't buy from you) dried and cracked, and while I'm sure I can get one elsewhere, I'd pick one up from you if/when I order anything again.
 
Get the one from Bobby. I paid about the same price and got the one that only has the brix number, wish I had gotten the one with the gravity numbers on it as well.
 
Worth every penny.

It allows me to take as many gravity readings as I like on brew day without wasting time or worth.
 
Just got mine from brewers hardware. I don't know how I brewed without it. I now find myself checking my gravity constantly, first runnings, a few times, part way though batch sparge, end of batch sparge...several times.....
 
AZ_IPA said:
Since he's too modest, if you do decide to buy one, get one from Bobby_M. Good price, and great customer service.

http://www.brewhardware.com/refractometer

Bobby, are you going to sell replacement pippettes? Mine (that I didn't buy from you) dried and cracked, and while I'm sure I can get one elsewhere, I'd pick one up from you if/when I order anything again.
Click to expand...

I've been asked about replacement pipettes occasionally but it was this one that prompted me to order a case of 2000. I should have them up on the site in a couple days.
 
Bobby_M said:
I've been asked about replacement pipettes occasionally but it was this one that prompted me to order a case of 2000. I should have them up on the site in a couple days.
Click to expand...

Thanks Bobby. I'll be picking up a sight glass cleaning brush, and some other stuff as well; probably that 0-500g scale, as my larger scale I use for grains and hops isn't precise enough for staggered nutrient additions for meads.

:mug:
 
I really like having my refractometer and it's a fun toy but it's hard to trust them at first until you get used to it. EDIT: I have to recalibrate mine with DI water every session but once I calculated the correct offset it's been a very handy and reliable tool to have around.
AS far as pipettes, I went to Walgreens and got a set (of 2) eye droppers.

300.JPG

They come apart so they're easily cleaned and they're really inexpensive. You can find them at any pharmacy.
 
klnosaj said:
I really like having my refractometer and it's a fun toy but it's hard to trust them. I have to recalibrate mine twice a session and once the ferment gets going they become really unreliable.
Click to expand...

Which one do you own.. I'll have to try and not purchase that one
 
Last edited by a moderator:
i recently got one and put it to use brewing saturday
i honestly don't know how i ever lived without it... all i need is a drop of wort to get an og reading!
 
After breaking my 3rd hydro, I bought a refractometer. I figured it was safer and probably cheaper for my clumsy hands.
 
pipette for getting wort? how about a spoon? I occasionally just dip the end of the refractometer into the boil pot. I seem to get great readings.

I don't bother trying to use the refractometer after pitching yeast. Useless in my experience. But if you want to give it a try, here's the calculator for it:

Sean Terrill's Improved Refracometer Calculator
 
passedpawn said:
pipette for getting wort? how about a spoon?
Click to expand...

I've been using a spoon since mine broke. I just like pippettes. They're cool. And if we're gonna use geek equipment, you can't use a simple spoon!!! :D

I need to pick up some stuff from BrewHardware anyways, so I'm glad Bobby will be providing pippettes.
 
Any good hobby shop (hobby lobby, mitchel's, or any art supply store) carries pipettes, I pick mine up at the same place I get my model paint. ;)

That being said, if you're already placing an order, might as well eh?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Bobby_M said:
I'm not offended at all. You might want to look at the picture of the scale though. It looks like they have 20 brix lined up with about 1.076 SG and I think that's a bit off. It should be closer to 1.083.
Click to expand...

Why would there be such a discrepancy? Kind of annoying there is no real "standard" for these pieces of equipment.
 
passedpawn said:
....

I don't bother trying to use the refractometer after pitching yeast. Useless in my experience. But if you want to give it a try, here's the calculator for it:

Sean Terrill's Improved Refracometer Calculator
Click to expand...

I don't see the problem. I've compared my refractometer (calculator
corrected) readings to my hydrometer readings and found little to no
difference. Add in the hydrometer fragility and the complication of
having to guess true liquid level due to the meniscus and I'll take the
refractometer any day.
 
It took me a while to trust it, but I hardly use my hydrometer and more. I use the refractometer Pre boil, during the boil, post boil and during fermentation. It hasn't let me down yet.

Keep it clean and keep it calibrated. I keep a squeeze bottle of dH2O to clean and calibrate
 
anengineer said:
I don't see the problem. I've compared my refractometer (calculator
corrected) readings to my hydrometer readings and found little to no
difference. Add in the hydrometer fragility and the complication of
having to guess true liquid level due to the meniscus and I'll take the
refractometer any day.
Click to expand...

I'm glad it's working for you. I'm going to try again. My experience was bad.
 
I've never used my refractometer post-fermentation. I doubt licking it clean will yield an adequate taste sample. After fermentation taste is more important than gravity.

For me the refractometer's only advantage is not needing to cool the sample. It' sure dosen't have better accuracy.
 
It will pay for itself after about 50 batches by saving 6 oz of wort every brew day.
 
Just got mine, wish I would have ordered from Bobby because the one I ordered doesn't have the dual scale. It was a bit cheaper though, so oh well. Does anyone know if it's possible to replace the scale on the inside of a refractometer?

Also, these websites that do the calculations are nice, but I have no Internet access at my brewery, so does anyone have a link to a downloadable spreadsheet that does the same thing?
 
I like mine just fine. I only discovered this past week that the Brix scale on mine is incorrect. After consulting a couple of other conversion tables and then finally checking against my hydrometer I now know that I should only read the SG scale.

It's not any more accurate than my hydrometer but there's less wort sampled and it takes no time to cool. The only thing I would caution against is taking the first reading you get. It's a good idea to let the refractometer and the sample settle in temperature. I've noticed that if I take a reading right away and then look again in about ten minutes or so, the reading has crept up a couple of points on the SG scale.

I do use mine at the end of fermentation as well. In the many samples that I have taken with hydrometer and refractometer and with using BeerSmith's refractometer tool, I know that the readings are bang on.
 
ziggy13 said:
Just got mine, wish I would have ordered from Bobby because the one I ordered doesn't have the dual scale. It was a bit cheaper though, so oh well. Does anyone know if it's possible to replace the scale on the inside of a refractometer?

Also, these websites that do the calculations are nice, but I have no Internet access at my brewery, so does anyone have a link to a downloadable spreadsheet that does the same thing?
Click to expand...

The SG scales are wrong anyway. Just multiply the brix by four (point one.) That's close enough.

Mine looks exacly like the pics on brewhardware.com but I got it form Hong Kong off ebay.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/0-32-Brix-W...526?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f091967a6
 

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