Great deal on a refractometer on Amazon

hbr2547 said:

So not sure what's the use? Only OG or am I missing something. I've always counted on hydrometer and refractometer way off so I guess use hydrometer for FG and refractometer for OG?

Click to expand...

You can use the refractor - you just need to adjust for the alcohol:

Formula for compensation of ethanol effect on refractometer:

SG=1.001843-0.002318474(OB)-0.000007775(OB^2)-0.000000034(OB^3)+0.00574(AB) +0.00003344(AB^2)+0.000000086(AB^3)

SG = Specific Gravity, OB = Original Brix, AB = Actual Brix (Brix Readings During Fermentation)

mcbaumannerb said:

You can use the refractor - you just need to adjust for the alcohol:

Formula for compensation of ethanol effect on refractometer:

SG=1.001843-0.002318474(OB)-0.000007775(OB^2)-0.000000034(OB^3)+0.00574(AB) +0.00003344(AB^2)+0.000000086(AB^3)

SG = Specific Gravity, OB = Original Brix, AB = Actual Brix (Brix Readings During Fermentation)

Click to expand...

Wow - that's intense

You can also cheat at the math to get your ABV by using a beer calculator tool. Here is a basic one. http://www.beercalcs.com/#refractometer

I just got it in the mail. Looks great can't wait to use it this weekend. Also it actually shows brix and SG so no converting.

fosgate said:

You can also cheat at the math to get your ABV by using a beer calculator tool. Here is a basic one. http://www.beercalcs.com/#refractometer

Click to expand...

Thanks. If I used a hydrometer on OG and since readings were pre-fermentation, can I use hydro reading equivalent of brix for starting brix?

Daver77 said:

I just got it in the mail. Looks great can't wait to use it this weekend. Also it actually shows brix and SG so no converting.

Click to expand...

Mine left North Jersey this morning - I'm really hoping it arrives by tomorrow so I can use if for my brew on Sunday. In looking at that scale, I don't know if I'll be able to make out the SG scale - unless it does some magnification!

mcbaumannerb said:

Mine left North Jersey this morning - I'm really hoping it arrives by tomorrow so I can use if for my brew on Sunday. In looking at that scale, I don't know if I'll be able to make out the SG scale - unless it does some magnification!

Click to expand...

You will, It's magnified already and you'll be able to tune focus.

Mine is the same one. You will need to verify it's the correct scale from Brix to SG. Some aren't... Just because you have the dual scale, doesn't mean it's accurate.

Just got mine. Came in a soft case, Brix only. Missing the cleaning cloth. Just ran it against my Hydrometer at various ranges 1.030-1.077 and it was spot on to the brix to SG conversion chart I found earlier. Going to just print that chart off and put it in the case. There is no manufacturer info on the documentation or product so I am assuming a Chinese knock off. Pretty sure it would probably break if I dropped it. I think it will do the job for the occasional brewer just fine.

I put mine to use today and it worked great - even with my bi-focals I was able to bring the scale into sharp focus (and more importantly I could read it!) Far more accurate than my normal best-guesstimate when looking at the bobbing hydrometer in my cylinder (with all the bubbles.) Very happy with this purchase.

mcbaumannerb said:

I put mine to use today and it worked great - even with my bi-focals I was able to bring the scale into sharp focus (and more importantly I could read it!) Far more accurate than my normal best-guesstimate when looking at the bobbing hydrometer in my cylinder (with all the bubbles.) Very happy with this purchase.

Click to expand...

Is that the one originally linked to at the beginning of this thread? I would like to order one ASAP. Thanks!

hlhorne said:

Is that the one originally linked to at the beginning of this thread? I would like to order one ASAP. Thanks!

Click to expand...

Buy this one:

http://brewhardware.com/refractometer

The store owner is a homebrewer and member of HBT (bobby_m).

hlhorne said:

Is that the one originally linked to at the beginning of this thread? I would like to order one ASAP. Thanks!

Click to expand...

Yes, this is the one I ordered from Amazon last week using the OPers link.

Don't forget though, at end of fermentation you will have "some" sugars unfermented (let's say equal to 1.010) and some alcohol (lets say equal to 0.985), the trick is to calculate the 1.010 from a brix reading anywhere between the two........

fosgate said:

Thanks! ordered one.You could just print this chart and put it in the box to just look up the SG conversion from Blix. http://distillique.co.za/catalog/article_info.php?articles_id=174

Full size, just the chart. http://distillique.co.za/catalog/images/articles/balling_brix_plato_to_sg.png

Click to expand...

Interesting. I have a chart I found online a year ago it was a PDF file I printed out. Readings are different from "your" link. Not by much but the above table reads about 1.003 higher than my print out.

mcbaumannerb said:

Thanks for the post - I've been contemplating getting rid of my hydrometer and this sealed the deal!

Click to expand...

Don't you still need the hydrometer for FG when you have beer and not wort.

I'm using brewzor app on my droid it converts OG-FG and brix and lots more. I have wart in mason jars for my next starter and some I racked 3 days ago and finished beer; I've played with this thing all day and works great. With all these beers I had taken hydrometer readings and this thing is on the money.

MrRoboto said:

Looks like its so cheap because it ships straight from Hong Kong. Its only about $8 cheaper than the one from amazon, and if it arrived broken I would much rather deal with Amazon than a Hong Kong ebay seller. I wonder what freight for that from the US to China costs? Probably as much as the item itself..

Click to expand...

Shipping is $8.50 on that item.