Digital Hydrometer Recommendations?

[jasonclick]

Looking to upgrade my refractometer to a digital type. Any recommendations?

 

[ajdelange]

I doubt very much that you are serious but Anton Paar seems to have the majority share in the brewing market and they give all their profits (which, given the prices, must be astronomical) to charity. And their gear is very good.

 

[Billy-Klubb]

I just know the S.G. by looking at wort. really I'd want those fancy lab grade hydrometers and Proof/Tralle Alcoholmeter before a refractometer.

 

[Curtis2010]

Here's a cool toy. Hydrometer, temp probe, and wireless.

https://www.thebeerbug.com/

 

[pdxal]

I just know the S.G. by looking at wort. really I'd want those fancy lab grade hydrometers and Proof/Tralle Alcoholmeter before a refractometer.

Are you aware that Proof/Tralle won't work with sweet liquids like beer or wine, only distilled spirits?

 

[Billy-Klubb]

Are you aware that Proof/Tralle won't work with sweet liquids like beer or wine, only distilled spirits?

are you aware that I am aware of that? are you also aware that the lab grade hydrometers would be lonely without their friend Tralle? are you not aware that the more glass measuring instruments you have in a rack, the cooler it looks?ipe:

 

[pdxal]

It was kind of like the stuck fermentation threads and the obvious question- Are you measuring your FG with a refractometer? Ask your local LHBS how many people have tried to return a Proof and Tralle because they thought they could use it with beer or wine.
Now, tell us how you measure gravity by looking at the wort.

 

[ajdelange]

Are you aware that Proof/Tralle won't work with sweet liquids like beer or wine, only distilled spirits?

They don't work with distilled spirits either unless the 'obscuration' (residual sugar or added sugar) is a rather small number (don't remember what it is). Such 'spirits' have to be distilled too just as do beer and wine if their alcohol is to be assayed by gravimitry. And contemplating doing this with a Tralle hydrometer one quickly sees the problem. The markings for the levels of ABV associated with beers are too close together to permit accurate reading. The standard procedure calls for distilling 100 mL of beer to which 50 mL of water has been added and recovering 95 mL of distillate. I suppose one could quadruple the amounts of beer and water and collect 95 mL of distillate which would give you nominally 20% ABV in the receiver which you should be able to read fairly accurately but then by collecting a much smaller fraction your recovery would be less. If you want to analyze beer distillation is necessary (unless using IR absorption, gas chromatography or an enzymatic method) and a sensitive density meter (the Anton Paar) or pycnometer (specific gravity bottle is) required. Pycnometers are practical for home brewers.

 

[pdxal]

Thanks AJ, your expertise is appreciated!

 

[Billy-Klubb]

It was kind of like the stuck fermentation threads and the obvious question- Are you measuring your FG with a refractometer?

well, this is my first rodeo. I just been hanging out here for 2 years and HB shops for 15 trying to work up the courage to add the yeast to my Mr. Beer kit. I'm still not ready.

Ask your local LHBS how many people have tried to return a Proof and Tralle because they thought they could use it with beer or wine.

why would I do that when I don't care?

Now, tell us how you measure gravity by looking at the wort.

I'm that floccin' good, son.

 

[jasonclick]

these threads seem to take a life of their own ...

Anyways, I asked the original question about digital refractometers because I brewed a barley wine this past weekend and I couldn't get an accurate reading on my "normal" refractometer because I couldn't tell what lines it was lined up on. I know I can use a hydrometer which I did in this case but I make small batches (around 2 gallons) and the less I can waste in hydrometer jars the better. I looked on Amazon and saw some of the digital refractometers for $150 or so but thought I would see what others may be using.

 

[jasonclick]

by the way, I meant digital refractometer... not digital hydrometer. Not sure why I typed in hydrometer.

 

[kh54s10]

In that case you do know that refractometers can't accurately measure gravity in the presence of alcohol. You will need to make calculations (online calculator) to compensate. I doubt the digital ones make the conversions. Many feel the calculators are not very accurate either.

IMO a refractometer does not replace the hydrometer, it is an additional tool.

 

[ajdelange]

by the way, I meant digital refractometer... not digital hydrometer. Not sure why I typed in hydrometer.

Glad you mentioned that as I thought I was losing my mind - a feeling I get fairly frequently these days. The answer is still Anton Paar though it is, in this case, rather tongue in cheek as there are decent digital refractometers available for much more affordable prices. They give better readings than the ones you look through as the light never passes through the beer and thus is not scattered by yeast and trub. But the fact remains that refractometry is pretty useless with fermented beer unless the instrument has been calibrated against gravimetric determination on the same or very similar beer. This is very useful for a brewery doing QC or repeated batches of the same beer but not very useful for home brewers.

 

[jasonclick]

I realize that they are no good after fermentation has started. I like to use the refractometer several times during the brew day to see my progress and if I hit my expectations. I found my refractometer (i got for $24.99 last Christmas) is always off when I check with distilled water. I re-calibrate but I only do that once a brew day so I'm not sure of the accuracy during the day. Plus I have a hard time seeing the lines. Plus my wife is looking for christmas give ideas

 

[Spartan1979]

Now that I know you're talking about digital refractometers, I can respond.

My wife got this for me for Christmas last year:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002NX0WHS/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

I love it during the brew day, although I always take a hydrometer reading at the end.

I brew a lot of lagers so the refractometer is useful to know when to raise the temp for a diacetyl rest. I plug the reading into Beersmith along with the original gravity and it gives me an answer. I know it's not exact, but it's useful for this purpose and only requires a small sample.

 

[jasonclick]

I love it during the brew day, although I always take a hydrometer reading at the end.

so do you find the same readings on the hydrometer and refractometer at the end of the brew day?

 

[Spartan1979]

so do you find the same readings on the hydrometer and refractometer at the end of the brew day?

They're usually a couple of points different. But close enough. But I probably should make sure my hydrometer is calibrated.

 

[ajdelange]

so do you find the same readings on the hydrometer and refractometer at the end of the brew day?

I found that they were generally pretty close - less than 1 °P most of the time but that on occasion they were off by well over 1 °P and there was no set of conditions that I could identify as being a predictor of when it was one of those times. It was on that basis that I decided that refractometers were not suitable replacements for hydrometers.

 

[guitarguy6]

I purchased this one for $20 and it's been suprisingly great. http://www.ebay.com/itm/RSG-100ATC-...o-/221503392276?ssPageName=ADME:X:AAQ:US:1123

I take a hydrometer reading at the end of the boil and it's pretty much bang on to my refractometer.

 

[Ben58]

Now that I know you're talking about digital refractometers, I can respond.

My wife got this for me for Christmas last year:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002NX0WHS/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

I love it during the brew day, although I always take a hydrometer reading at the end.

I brew a lot of lagers so the refractometer is useful to know when to raise the temp for a diacetyl rest. I plug the reading into Beersmith along with the original gravity and it gives me an answer. I know it's not exact, but it's useful for this purpose and only requires a small sample.

I have the same unit. Go for it. I zero it with RO water I use for brewing. It's bang on with the hydrometer.

 

[DumpsterDave]

I have the same digital refractometer as Spartan1979 and have been using it for about 2 years now. I find it to be an extremely valuable tool and utilize it almost exclusively. Unlike analog refractometers, they hold their calibration much better. I still recommend that you calibrate it regularly, but if you forget it shouldn't be far off.

First, as many people have said, it does not replace a hydrometer completely but instead compliments it. You will still need a hydrometer in order to obtain the correction factor for the refractometer. Even with an analog one many people forget, or simply don't know, that the correction factor will vary from batch to batch. Refractometers are designed to measure the sugar (or salt) content of a clear liquid without proteins and hop or yeast particles. As we all know, wort is anything but clear and often times has particles floating around in it even if we can't easily see them. For this reason, you need to take a hydrometer reading and use it to calcuate the correction factor. Beer smith has a great tool built in that does this for you. There are also other calculators available online that do this as well. Once you utilize the correct correction factor, you should see that your refractometer readings are spot on with the hydrometer and with other calculators, will account for alcohol. I use my hydrometer to double check my OG and get a correction factor, then it goes back into the box until the next brew. I find it much easier to use a long pipette to take a few drops of wort and take a quick measurement than having to sacrifice enough to float a hydrometer.

 

[Doctor_M]

Now that I know you're talking about digital refractometers, I can respond.

My wife got this for me for Christmas last year:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002NX0WHS/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

I love it during the brew day, although I always take a hydrometer reading at the end.

I brew a lot of lagers so the refractometer is useful to know when to raise the temp for a diacetyl rest. I plug the reading into Beersmith along with the original gravity and it gives me an answer. I know it's not exact, but it's useful for this purpose and only requires a small sample.

I have the same unit. Go for it. I zero it with RO water I use for brewing. It's bang on with the hydrometer.

This is also what we use at the small nano that I work at (for unfermented wort). It works for us.

 

[jddevinn]

This is also what we use at the small nano that I work at (for unfermented wort). It works for us.

I have one of these as well. Works great!

 

[gtl]

You may want to check this site out

www.stm-instrument.com

looks like it will work with beer, wine and spirits??