Hydrometer or refractometer?

[GHBWNY]

Just wondering what the pros and cons are between using a hydrometer or refractometer. What's the general preference and why?

 

[likwidbliss]

I use both. The pros to the refractometer, it is easy to use with hot wort. I only need a drop on the lens to get a reading. The con, you can't get a reading of your fermented beer unless you can get a correction factor, I don't know it. I use a hydrometer for my final gravity. I would recommend a refractometer. I use it a lot.

 

[ArcaneXor]

Same as the poster above - refractometer for brew day (really only important for all-grain brewing though), and a hydrometer for FG.

 

[thadass]

Refractometers are less accurate once fermentation has started, but use considerably less liquid and time. Hydrometers with automatic temperature correction are also very fast to use while you are mashing during all-grain brewing, or to check your wort concentration rate during the boil.

Hydrometers of course use more liquid (some people use wine thieves in a way to not waste any liquid) but are more accurate, especially once fermentation has begun and there is alcohol in the mix.


I use both. Mashing, boiloff, and OG readings are all done with hydrometer, as are during-fermentation readings. I only use a hydrometer twice, once when I believe fermentation is complete and then just prior to bottling to verify the gravity is stable.

If you ever forget to take an OG reading or do something weird like add an unmeasured amount of honey half way through fermentation, you can also use a final set of refractometer AND hydrometer readings at the same time to estimate roughly what the OG was (or would have been).


If you're only getting one, get a hydrometer.

edit: that's what I get for typing the long response! What those guys ^ said

 

[titansvol]

Like the post above, I use both.

 

[Woody1911a1]

If you're only getting one, get a hydrometer.

no get two hydrometers !!!!! so you'll have one after you break the first one

don't ask me how i know

 

[titansvol]

That is great advice also. Might need 3 or 4.

 

[Calder]

I only trust my hydrometer. I have a refractometer which I was using for mash efficiency, but on the last brew it gave me a low reading. It was a stuck mash, so it could have been correct, but I decided to check with my hydrometer, and got a much higher reading. Now I have to figure out what happened before I trust the refractometer again.

 

[davekippen]

I am probably in the minority here. After a couple of years with a hydro, I bought a refractometer. I used both devices for a couple of brew sessions to confirm that I knew how to use the refractometer, and to confirm it was accurate. It was so easy, and so accurate, that I have not used my hydrometer since then!

I use the correction factor for FG before kegging. Even if with the correction it is a few points off, so what. Its close enough for my needs, and only takes a few drops. I love it.

 

[GHBWNY]

I've been using a hydrometer (because that's what my wife got me for Christmas with my brewing equipment) Problem is, I don't have a good glass cylinder in which to put the wort that is roomy enough and tall enough to accomodate the entire length of the h-d. I've been using the plastic storage tube that came with the h-g, but it is only a hair wider than the bulb of the h-d, and I wonder if it is "hugging" the bulb enough to throw off the reading? Also, because of the narrowness of the tube, there is a considerable surface tension curve on the surface of the wort which makes it hard to read the scale markings. I realize I need a better/wider test tube, but I haven't been able to find one that doesn't require having to buy another h-g with it.

 

[GHBWNY]

Had I read the other threads at the end of that last post, I wouldn't have posted. Most of my answers are there. Thanks.

 

[Euphist]

I am probably in the minority here. After a couple of years with a hydro, I bought a refractometer. I used both devices for a couple of brew sessions to confirm that I knew how to use the refractometer, and to confirm it was accurate. It was so easy, and so accurate, that I have not used my hydrometer since then!

I use the correction factor for FG before kegging. Even if with the correction it is a few points off, so what. Its close enough for my needs, and only takes a few drops. I love it.

Minority, maybe, but not alone.

I used both on three consecutive batches and the numbers matched. Since then I have only used my hydrometer once...I forgot to take an OG reading. BeerSmith will calculate OG if you give FG from both a hydrometer and refractometer.