Is it really necessary to own a refractometer?

[Yuri_Rage]

Then you should buy 2 a year from eBay and increase your profit margin.

 

[camiller]

I use my hydro for final gravity reading as alcohol will skew refractometer readings. Other than that I use my refractometer for everything prefermentation.

There is anequation to correct for the alcohol plus some of the brewing software will do it for you and there are a couple spreadsheets floating around as well. Google refractometer alcohol correction.

 

[passedpawn]

Coolest thing: using a refractometer AND a hydrometer, you can degas any beer (i.e., store-bought) and figure out its OG and ABV. Great for beginning a clone recipe.

 

[Dubcut]

Coolest thing: using a refractometer AND a hydrometer, you can degas any beer (i.e., store-bought) and figure out its OG and ABV. Great for beginning a clone recipe.

how would you figure out its og?

 

[Stuntman]

I'm sold. Easier to read, saves me over a glass of beer each batch. You fill Hyd tube twice, one before fermentation, and one for FG. Cost me on a conservative batch about .50 cents a 12 oz. serving. 60 batches and refractometer is paid for. I aleady broke one hydrometer (and I rarely use them).

 

[camiller]

Coolest thing: using a refractometer AND a hydrometer, you can degas any beer (i.e., store-bought) and figure out its OG and ABV. Great for beginning a clone recipe.

how would you figure out its og?

I'm guessing but since you have to apply a correction to a refractometer to get an acurate final gravity (and to do so you need the starting gravity) you can probably work backwards by using the uncorrected refractometer reading and the hydrometer reading to figure out the starting gravity based on what the correction had to be.

 

[ILOVEBEER]

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-0-32-ATC-Brix-Refractometer-Wine-Beer-CNC-Sugar_W0QQitemZ370298160191QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_D efaultDomain_0?hash=item56377d843f

looks like a nice one......is this the one I am looking for?

 

[Yuri_Rage]

That looks like the one I got from AHS. I like it.

 

[GroosBrewz]

I work in research at Washington State University and just for curiosities sake, I borrowed an expensive, ultra-cool, top of the line, best of the so-called refractometer from one of the labs and calibrated it against my $30 ebay refractometer in my last brewing session to see if my cheap one was actually off target or not.. Believe it or not, I got nearly identical results from both..

 

[RighteousFire]

Refracts are sweet devices. I have only ever owned 1 hydro, well 2 now, because my cat broke mine.

I don't actually own one but have used them at the microbreweries I have worked at in the past and they are rather useful.

I myself haven't seen the need for one. Take 3 ounces of wort in a shallow wide container, and stick it in the freezer. cools down to around 100F in 10 minutes or less (depending on your start temp) which is good enough to calculate a corrected reading.

anything before or during the boil can be put back in so I am not concerned. I take 1 reading before pitching, one 24 hours after pitching, another after 5 days if I plan on moving to secondary, and a final one at bottling time of course. Im not going to sweat 12-15 ounces over 5.5 gallons myself.

 

[ruffdeezy]

I thought they were dumb until I watched the video above

 

[boo boo]

If you have brewing software, you can use a refractometer for very precise FG readings too. If you have the OG in Brix and the SG in Brix, it is easy peasy.

Yes I know. I have promash and can do the calculations there, but I take hydro samples post fermentation to taste my brew as it progresses also.

 

[passedpawn]

how would you figure out its og?

Using Beersmith. I guess. I haven't tested the accuracy of this method, but I will start doing that as soon as my Refractometer shows up (today!).

 

[dutch-brew]

The refractometer is very usefull when one tries to do experimental 1 gal batches of stuff (mead, cider,wine, even beer).. You take 2 or 3 readings with the hydrometer you loose alot of liquid, and end up with only half a gallon.

Besides, i like that it makes me look cool to other people

 

[COLObrewer]

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-0-32-ATC-Brix-Refractometer-Wine-Beer-CNC-Sugar_W0QQitemZ370298160191QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_D efaultDomain_0?hash=item56377d843f

looks like a nice one......is this the one I am looking for?

That's the one I got, It works good. Some grapes will go over the scale however, amazing sugar in those little gems.

 

[Synovia]

But they cost us $79.99 through a homebrew wholesalers and I have enough going without worrying about establishing another business relationship with another vendor for something I sell 2 a year of.

You'd sell a lot more if they weren't $100+.


You need to find new wholesalers. You could buy them from BMW for $59.99 if you wanted.

This is just poor business.

 

[mysterio]

I broke the slide on mine somehow (and yet i've never broken a hydrometer).

They are nice to have but i'm getting on fine with my hydro. The biggest advantage to the hydro is not having to cool down the sample. You can get them cheap on ebay.

 

[camiller]

You'd sell a lot more if they weren't $100+.


You need to find new wholesalers. You could buy them from BMW for $59.99 if you wanted.

This is just poor business.

No it's just understanding my customer base, which are mostly extract brewers (although I'm happy to admit that our bulk grain sales are growing quite nicely over the last few years). After my replies yesterday I started looking at science supply places and in order to get to a reasonable price I'd have to buy in lots of 100+ (would get me to $55 each cost). I just don't have enough customers that are that "in to" the geekery of brewing to justify spending the money on something that will be held in inventory for 10+ years. For the record I bought my personal hydrometer on ebay, but buying for the store is different, I can't just pick a random person on ebay to buy from. For the store I need a reliable vendor that I know will stand behind the product. That IS good business practice.

 

[Synovia]

After my replies yesterday I started looking at science supply places and in order to get to a reasonable price I'd have to buy in lots of 100+ (would get me to $55 each cost). I

Again, you're looking in the wrong places. BMW will do 59.99 each and they're not even wholesale. You can get em off Amazon for $49.99. and Ebay for 29.99

 

[The Pol]

I can buy almost three refractomters on Ebay for each ONE I can buy at my LHBS. Since there are no moving parts, they are a damn simple design, I am not worried about "reliability". There are no rotating shafts or bearings or parts that can "wear" to my knowlege.

 

[Richabt]

No you dont need one.
I dont have one, but I am a gadget nut, and must get one for that reason alone!

 

[budbo]

Where do you guys shop? Most IHBS I use sell them for $50-$60 but $30 on Ebay is awesome

Do you need one? No.. But it makes life a lot easier

 

[passedpawn]

I can buy almost three refractomters on Ebay for each ONE I can buy at my LHBS. Since there are no moving parts, they are a damn simple design, I am not worried about "reliability". There are no rotating shafts or bearings or parts that can "wear" to my knowlege.

The one part that does seem fragile is the plastic hinged cover. I am very careful with that. Otherwise, I agree, their isn't much to go wrong!

BTW, I have one for my fish tank that is lighted. There is a white LED and a switch to turn it on. That is a very nice feature that wasn't included in the less expensive Brix refractometers.

 

[MultumInParvo]

I broke my hydrometer and I think that video on the first page may have converted me to refractometers... I like actually seeing how things work, very neat.

 

[boo boo]

.

Hey just noticed your name. Cool.
I used to be a bit of a chess nut myself in my younger days. Played postal chess for quite a number of years to suppliment the local chess club games and tourneys.

 

[passedpawn]

Hey just noticed your name. Cool.
I used to be a bit of a chess nut myself in my younger days. Played postal chess for quite a number of years to suppliment the local chess club games and tourneys.

I love the game. I've read books, studied the masters, and I still stink. But I have fun stinking. I used to play online but everyone wanted to play blitz chess (fast timed games): not for me. I like losing more slowly than that.

Ok, back to the topic. What was the topic?

 

[derekm]

If you use brewing software it will tell you what the preboil gravity of your wort should be. Check this with your refractometer and adjust your boil time, add water, or add dme if needed and you should hit your numbers exactly every time. Derek

 

[z987k]

To sum up the thread... yes you do need one especially if you're AG

But seriously, how many of you know your conversion, lauter and sparge efficiency that don't own a refractometer?????

 

[hopvine]

Do you need to recalculate the Brix correction factor for each brew?

 

[rico567]

Is there any particular brand or options I should look for when buying one?

Like a lot of other people on this forum, I bought the no-name "Portable Refractometer" brand from the Happy Fun Luck Trading Co. of Hong Kong -or something like that- an eBay seller. The refractometer itself is obviously made you-know-where. When I bought mine, I think it was $27-28 delivered. It works great. I have both it and a hydrometer, and now that I've gone AG, I wouldn't be without either.