Is there only one type of hydrometer?

[Thor]

Is there more than one type of hydrometer? I realize there are several combinations of scales out there, as well as hydrometers with or without thermometers. My question has to do with the basic structure. The "basic" hydrometer is the one we are familiar with: a thin length of glass or plastic tube with one or more scales on it and a thicker length of bulb on the other end.

I wonder whether there exists a more exact, perhaps simpler version. Example: put a couple of drops in some automated form of hydrometer and get a digital readout of SG.

 

[justbrewit]

Brix Refractometer with ATC
A refractometer instantly reads gravity, in Brix, of unfermented wort or fruit juice by measuring the degree that light passing through the sample is bent. Unlike a hydrometer, only a few drops are required for a sample. To use, apply 2-3 drops to the prism face, close cover, and look through the eyepiece while aiming your refractometer at a light source.

Our refractometers measure from 0-32° Brix, with an accuracy of +/- 0.2° Brix. They also include automatic temperature compensation for temperatures between 50-86° F, which eliminates the need to consult temperature correction charts.

heres where you can see it:

http://www.northernbrewer.com/hydrometers.html

 

[AHammer16]

what is the conversion from brix to SG?

 

[DeRoux's Broux]

the refractometers are cool little diddies! i used one when i helped the brewer at Two Row's in Houston. it's on my Christmas list!

 

[Orfy]

what is the conversion from brix to SG?

SG = 1.000019 + [0.003865613(Brix)
+ 0.00001296425(Brix) + 0.00000005701128(Brix)]

 

[david_42]

Brix * 4 give points. A Brix of 15 is 1060. I have a precision Brix hydrometer -5 to +5 Brix, which is really designed as a finish hydrometer for wine, but I do enough ciders to find it handy. This would be no different from a 980 to 1020 hydrometer.

 

[Denny's Evil Concoctions]

I want one! I wonder where I can order one in Canada. Ordering from the US is hit and miss with shipping/customs charges. Not to mention some places only use UPS for shipping to Canada and those little buggers tack on a "brokerage handling fee" that is some times more than the cost of your whole dang order. Never had a brokerage fee using fedex.

 

[wild]

Those are nice but the reason I won't get one is because I'm such a clutz (3 glass hydrometers in 18 months). $60 for each Refractometer I break is a bit much. That's why I'm still waiting for someone to design a Stainless Steel version.

Wild

 

[Walker]

I just don't understand why that don't make them out of acrylic. you have to go out of your way to break that stuff.

-walker

 

[Caplan]

I just don't understand why that don't make them out of acrylic. you have to go out of your way to break that stuff.

-walker

They do but i don't think they are as accurate as the glass versions. Plus acrylic doesn't last long without harbouring nasties.

 

[Walker]

They do but i don't think they are as accurate as the glass versions. Plus acrylic doesn't last long without harbouring nasties.

WHy would they be less accurate than glass? It's all the same principal, just different material.

As for harboring nasties, no big deal if you are taking samples and checking the gravity of those. The nasties would never touch the batch proper.

-walker

 

[Orfy]

There must be good reasons why most lab equipment is made from glass rather than plastic, I suppose hydrometers are lab equipment.

 

[Walker]

Oh, no doubt about that. Glass is preferred in lab equipment because you never know what you will be using that equipment for (like... acidic solutions or something). Nasty chemicals could chew up a lot of meterial, but glass withstands them.

However, I was thinking that for us (homebrewers) who are going to be sticking the things into beer or wine, plastic/acrylic would be perfect for the job.

I don't know about you, but I haven't brewed a batch yet that was capable of eating through acrylic... but I'm still working out some recipes.

-walker

 

[justbrewit]

the alpha acids in my last batch might have eatin through acrylic!!!!!

 

[Dude]

what is the conversion from brix to SG?

Brix? Hans Brix?

"You're breakin my fricking barrs here, Hans!!!!"



Ahem....uhhhh...sorry for the rude interruption guys. I don't know what came over me.

 

[david_42]

Plastics expand & contract too much to provide accurate readings and get scratched up.

 

[Walker]

Ok.. I'll buy that one.

thanks.

-walker

 

[Denny's Evil Concoctions]

Also Acrylic can develop a haze to it depending on what sort of substances it's been put in. Chlorine is bad for that. But then they could probably make acrylic for cheaper and you could afford to buy a replacement.

I have to agree regarding accuracy vs glass. But then if it's off a little bit does it really matter? Most of us can't read the dang thing properly anyway.

 

[homebrewer_99]

Brix? Hans Brix?

"You're breakin my fricking barrs here, Hans!!!!"



Ahem....uhhhh...sorry for the rude interruption guys. I don't know what came over me.

Blicks, wasn't it?

 

[Caplan]

don't know about you, but I haven't brewed a batch yet that was capable of eating through acrylic... but I'm still working out some recipes.

I haven't brewed a batch bad enough to break a glass hydrometer into it either!

I have to agree regarding accuracy vs glass. But then if it's off a little bit does it really matter? Most of us can't read the dang thing properly anyway.

Denny's Brew - It winds me up waiting for the froth to subside in the test jar before i can see anything anyway. Then i try finding the meniscus and judge the real level. That's when i can finally misread my hydrometer properly!

Come on the rest of you! The difference in price between the two is about £1 in the UK - can't be much more around the world than that. Get glass and LOOK AFTER IT! It's not like you need to throw it around! How many glasses of BEER do you all break?

 

[Orfy]

I got given some old brew gear a few weeks ago including one glass hydrometer and one plastic one. I have a mate who does wine on the cheap and he didn't have a hydrometer so I let him have one. A couple days ago I sold some brew gear on Ebay and got a good price. The guy asked if I had any other bits, so I put in the other hydrometer.

Today, what do you know......yep you got it....I bust my hydrometer whilst brewing. My brew had to go in primary without and SG reading.