Another EasyDens Thread

[Nagorg]

I've been considering picking up an EasyDens. And I've read mostly positive things from this forum but most are a little old. I've used a normal brix refractometer for years and have had great results. And I've even found the resulting calculations that are needed when alcohol is present to be inline with hydrometer measurements when I cross-check.

So to those that have one of these, do you still think its a solid purchase? Is it worth spending the money on when I can get a good "lab grade" refractometer for less than half the price of the EasyDens?

 

[cyoung1833]

I love mine. Tough to justify the price though.

 

[Nagorg]

I love mine. Tough to justify the price though.

How long have you had yours? I don't think I've seen anyone say they didn't like it. But I'm wondering if that's stood the test of time.

I can buy a few good refractometers for the price of an EasyDens. I like that it would give me a more confirmed brix/SG or Plato (I don't use Plato personally) as opposed to "eyeballing" the graduated scale on my refractometer that's honestly getting harder to do as my eyeballs age. That gets even harder when alcohol and/or yeast is in the sample and the reading line becomes blurred..

But somehow I've managed over the years. I guess I'm looking for more info from folks about their likes/dislikes to help me justify a "buy or don't buy" decision.

I've also read somewhere that you now have to subscribe to a service to use the app for storing the measurements from the EasyDens? Is that true? I don't find that info on their website...

 

[bailey mountain brewer]

I've had mine for 2 or e years now and I won't go back. Fast, simple, reliable. I don't store my readings in the app I just put them in my notes with everything else in my brewing journal so I can't answer to that question... I haven't subscribed or whatever because though I spent the money on the thing I'm cheap in other ways, I know, makes no sense. I probably will at some point because I believe I've read that it unlocks a few other things as well.. so is 3 years long enough to say it's "still" worth it, well I don't know, but I wouldn't hesitate to buy another one, ti's the season, put it on your xmas list haha.

 

[Gajol]

One of the guys from homebrew happy hour have on and well it brok easy and a replacement part is really expensive

I don't have one my self.

 

[Nagorg]

ti's the season, put it on your xmas list haha.

One of the reasons I haven't already bought one is of possible Black Friday discounts. I think someone on this forum mentions that they got theirs at a Black Friday discounted price.

There's no guarantee that this will happen but I'm thinking it could be worth waiting for. At least waiting gives me more time to get feedback before I pull the trigger... lol

 

[DonT]

One of the guys from homebrew happy hour have on and well it brok easy and a replacement part is really expensive

I don't have one my self.

I bought one a little over a year ago. Shortly after a got it, the thing took a tumble off the table on to the concrete garage floor. I thought Damn that's It... didn't even go out of calibration and works beautiful to this day.

 

[matt_m]

I have had the EasyDens for a couple years and picked up a SmartRef about a year ago. I like the EasyDens as its far easier for me to read and uses a lot less wort/beer. For brew day, the SmartRef is even easier for pre-boil gravity as cooling that even smaller amount of worth is really fast but its definitely not necessary. What I really got the SmartRef for was the ability to calculate ABV in finished barrel aged beers.

 

[cyoung1833]

I have had mine a little over a year now. I don't store my readings in the app either so I'm not sure about that. No complaints at all.

 

[Nagorg]

What I really got the SmartRef for was the ability to calculate ABV in finished barrel aged beers.

I'd really like to know more about this.

Isn't the SmartRef just another digital brix refractometer? How is it different than the Milwaukee?

 

[Peebee]

EasyDens must be the ultimate for homebrewing. They are very cheap (relatively!) "oscillating u-tube" devices. Ask anyone in a Lab around here (UK) what their hydrometers are calibrated to, and most will say, after a bit of rummaging, 60°F. The UK went metric in 1972, they should be using 20°C hydrometers, but they all use "oscillating u-tube" devices now and a hydrometer is obsolete.

I can't justify cost of having an EasyDens, Refractometers only read SG because of some kludging and bodging (but good enough for HB). I use 25ml Pyknometers; Archimedes would have understood them, very accurate, filthy cheap, but the required half-decent electronic two decimal-places (of a gram) scales, aren't cheap (I can't read any scales made-up of lots of little parallel lines).

 

[matt_m]

I'd really like to know more about this.

Isn't the SmartRef just another digital brix refractometer? How is it different than the Milwaukee?

The app that is used for both has an ABV mode. You add a sample to the SmartRef, then the EasyDens, hit measure and it magically spits out ABV. https://www.my-smartref.com/products/easydens-smartref-combo?variant=46899940786524

 

[FswBG]

I love my easydens. It was a splurge a couple years back that I thought I would regret due to the price, but it gets a lot of use and has had 0 issues. For me it's one of those buy once cry once purchases.

 

[Nagorg]

So. y'all aren't doing a very good job of talking me out of buying this thing...

 

[Peteinno]

The SmartRef is a bit cheaper, that's what I went with. I get OG, FG, and ABV. Everything that I need without the large samples needed with a hydrometer.

 

[Nagorg]

The SmartRef is a bit cheaper, that's what I went with. I get OG, FG, and ABV

I have a Milwaukee MA871(Digital Brix Refractometer). But its not very reliable during fermentation, very inconsistent. I'm thinking this may have something to do with the alcohol evaporating from the sample during the measurement. But I don't really know why and have stopped using it. I went back to my trusty hand-held refractometer.

The SmartRef sounds like it may be more like the MA844 (Digital Brix / Potential Alcohol Refractometer) which is a bit cheaper than the SmartRef. But it doesn't have an app or work in tandem with the EasyDens.

I have been thinking of just getting the EasyDens but it sounds like I should consider ponying up for the combo.

 

[franknbeans]

I got mine (EasyDens) last year and used it a couple times. It's pretty dang cool, but not a definite necessity. I got mine from a guy locally and it was too good of a deal to pass up. Beats using the refractometer and dealing with that mess. I didn't use the recorded sample history yet, but that will be cool when I'm brewing more consistently.

All in all, its a cool 'splurge' item. I haven't seen them included in Black Friday deals or ever on sale. If you find a used one, jump on it.

 

[Bilsch]

It's worth every penny.

 

[Nagorg]

Does anyone have any insight into a Black Friday deal for the EasyDens? Meaning, has anyone seen them do this every year?

I've read that they have done it but have no idea if its a regular happening. Its (the Beer Combo) on sale for a whole $19 less than normal right now.

My trigger finger is itching..

 

[Peebee]

Does anyone have any insight into a Black Friday deal for the EasyDens? Meaning, has anyone seen them do this every year?

I've read that they have done it but have no idea if its a regular happening. Its (the Beer Combo) on sale for a whole $19 less than normal right now.

My trigger finger is itching..

Be careful! The scammers also know there are itching fingers out there. I did see adverts for "Milwaukee Refractometers", not "EasyDens" yet. But I don't go purposely looking for fake ads ... just stumble on them occasionally.

 

[Nagorg]

Be careful! The scammers also know there are itching fingers out there. I did see adverts for "Milwaukee Refractometers", not "EasyDens" yet. But I don't go purposely looking for fake ads ... just stumble on them occasionally.

I'm a little smarter than that. I go straight to the source and am not a "clicker"... Not to mention, I don't see too many ad's in the first place due to all the additional security I have on my systems. (uBlock Origin, Privacy Badger, NextDNS etc..)

But back to my question, does anyone know if its common to see Black Friday deals direct from my-smartref.com and/or easydens.com? If there's a decent chance this will happen, its worth waiting. Otherwise my finger needs to be scratched! lol

 

[matt_m]

I only recall them offering a referral discount for a while. I had a link but it stopped working after a year or so.

 

[Nagorg]

Thanks @matt_m . Sounds like I should save that $19 while I can.. lol

 

[Nagorg]

Trigger pulled.
Thread closed....

At least for now. I'll probably report my experiences later!

Thanks for the input HBT!

 

[oldschool]

You won’t regret it. I’ve had mine for 4 years. A few things that might come in handy for you:
If you drop it, the glass U tube can definitely break. A friend of mine dropped a dma35 and the tube broke..

Right away buy some extra silicone tubing and a pack of extra syringes from Anton Paar. I haven’t found a syringe on amazon that will work because the nozzle needs to be offset (i think they intentionally have it this way).

Take the syringe apart to clean/rinse after every day of use and it will last longer (otherwise it gets tight and the handles break)

Always rinse it with distilled water. Get a lab squirt bottle that you can stick right in the port and flush well. Then always blow dry or suck the water out. Water left inside will encourage biofilm.

You will inevitably get some bio gunk buildup inside and for this invest in Alconox or an AP approved cleaner. I use alconox. I thought mine was permanently gunked with a layer until I filled the tube with alconox and left it for 24h. Shined like it was brand new.

Use distilled water to adjust/check calibration periodically.

Be sure the sample is decarbonated and free of solids (yeast included)
I filter any of the fermentation samples through a coffee filter and it does an ok job with solids and usually decarbs sufficiently.

It’s a great instrument for the $. The alternative is the dma35 and they are 10x the price with the same measuring principle.

I think it’s worth the cost just because you only need a 50ml or so.

 

[matt_m]

Amazon has the right style. https://a.co/d/cWNYnla

 

[bailey mountain brewer]

Alconox is a good suggestion and yeah always keep distilled on hand to flush it, obviously you can use it to check calibration also.

 

[Nagorg]

First use of my EasyDens/SmartRef combo...

I had calculated an FG of 1.014 for the beer I packaged last night. I did this using my years long method of refractometer readings and averaging the results from multiple online calculators.

Insert EasyDens... EasyDens measured the FG at 1.015. Pretty darn close I think. So maybe my usual method is pretty good after-all. Still, the EasyDens is a really good tool and I love how I can use it for ABV too, just like y'all said.

It is expensive but if you can stomach pony'ing up the cash for it, I agree its a great tool to have in your homebrewing bag of tricks.

This thing is pretty cool!

 

[jwill911]

Amazon has the right style. https://a.co/d/cWNYnla

A friend of mine 3D printed this case for me, and I bought the same replacement syringes on Amazon