Refractometer, worth it?

[Armen_Tamzarian]

I've recently started doing All Grain and have never been truly satisfied with my hydrometer. I'm wondering if this will be more accurate, it seems like it would definitely be more convenient. Also, I found some awesome deals on Ebay, has anyone tried these specific ones? Thanks all!

 

[BendBrewer]

For an all grain brewer, yes it is worth it. Great to have on brew day. Hydrometer after that.

As alcohol gets introduced, one has to do some calculations that are pretty accurate if using a refractometer but not as accurate as a good hydrometer.

 

[SD-SLIM]

I love mine, here is the one I bought: http://www.austinhomebrew.com/product_info.php?products_id=1014
There is also a vendor on this site who's just sales refractometers and I have heard how please several people are who bought them. Just make sure your refractometer is for beer and comes from an American vendor, I read several people getting junk stuff from China!

 

[Homercidal]

I think they are worth it. they can reduce the amount of work on brew day since you only have to cool a few drops of wort to get a reading. Some people claim that as the fermentation progresses, the accuracy drops, but I have not found that to be true for mine. Also, some say the higher gravity beers can throw them off, but I have not found that to be true either. At any rate, you should be able to easily plug in a correction factor to make it read properly.

 

[Bobby_M]

I love mine, here is the one I bought: http://www.austinhomebrew.com/product_info.php?products_id=1014
There is also a vendor on this site who's just sales refractometers and I have heard how please several people are who bought them. Just make sure your refractometer is for beer and comes from an American vendor, I read several people getting junk stuff from China!

I haven't come across anyone that sells refractometers made in the US.

 

[Catt22]

I love mine, here is the one I bought: http://www.austinhomebrew.com/product_info.php?products_id=1014
There is also a vendor on this site who's just sales refractometers and I have heard how please several people are who bought them. Just make sure your refractometer is for beer and comes from an American vendor, I read several people getting junk stuff from China!

AFAIK, all of the low end refractometers commonly used by us home brewers are junk stuff from China. My cheap Chinese made refractometer has never failed me yet and I've been using it for a very long time.

 

[SD-SLIM]

I haven't come across anyone that sells refractometers made in the US.

This is the vendor i mentioned that sales them...as for produced in US, not my statement...sold by a US VENDOR, EBAY has several people on there who sale refractometers that take weeks and when arrived were junk (what I read not my experience).

 

[Bobby_M]

No problem, I just wasn't sure if you were using vendor/manufacturer interchangeably.

 

[Backporchbrewery]

One of my favorite purchases. Bobby_M has the best deal on these, I just wish I had seen his before I bought mine. Still might have to pick one of his up with the sg scale on it.

 

[rico567]

Yes. If you're going AG, by all means get a refractometer. When I did, I took the good advice on this forum and bought one of the cheapies on eBay- "Happy Fun Luck Trading Co. of Hong Kong" or some such. Have never regretted it.

 

[jasonpetty]

Good afternoon all,

I have one of the good 'ol refractometers from eBay. It looks identical to the one SD-SLIM linked to above and came from Hong Kong if I recall correctly. I think I spent like $30 on it or something like that. Anyway, I'm having reliability issues with it. My OGs are coming out just fine (or what I expect from a proven recipe), but my FG is WAY high. For months I've been analyzing my sparge techniques, water quality, yeast, etc, thinking something is wrong with my ingredients/technique. I just did a side by side FG comparison between my hydrometer and refractometer and have a .017 difference between the two on my trusty Pale Ale recipe. I haven't done an OG comparison between the two, but plan on doing so next batch in a few weeks after I get back from vacation.

What's this "adjustment" some of you are referring to for FG readings o refractometers?

 

[mrbobble]

There are spreadsheets (I think Morebeer has one on their website) there that try to calculate for the presence of alcohol in the refractometer reading. I've heard mixed reviews from them but Bobby_M's video walkthrough on his web-site seems to be a nice confidence builder towards the use of one to measure FG. I use both depending on if my wife lets me use her laptop when I'm brewing or not

 

[rico567]

There are spreadsheets (I think Morebeer has one on their website) there that try to calculate for the presence of alcohol in the refractometer reading. I've heard mixed reviews from them but Bobby_M's video walkthrough on his web-site seems to be a nice confidence builder towards the use of one to measure FG. I use both depending on if my wife lets me use her laptop when I'm brewing or not

I get around the whole problem by using my refractometer for the hot side, and the hydrometer to check FG.

 

[ultravista]

Can anyone suggest a good hydrometer? Mine are 10+ years old, came with a beer and wine kit long ago. They are structurally sound, just don't know how accurate.

 

[Montanaandy]

Glad to hear that there are others that successfully use their refracs. There has been a lot of discussion on this board in threads that dissed the use of refracs. I love my SG refrac and the fact that I can get an accurate reading from a few drops rather than a larger amount of wort. I regularly check the refrac against my hydrometer and it is always spot on.

 

[KuntyBrew]

Can anyone suggest a good hydrometer? Mine are 10+ years old, came with a beer and wine kit long ago. They are structurally sound, just don't know how accurate.

check the cal temp on it and use distilled water and it should read 1.000
but i switched to a refract and use the morebeer spreadsheet now

 

[a10t2]

There are spreadsheets (I think Morebeer has one on their website) there that try to calculate for the presence of alcohol in the refractometer reading.

Every other spreadsheet/site that I've seen uses a demonstrably inaccurate formula.

http://seanterrill.com/2011/04/07/refractometer-fg-results/

 

[Paul07293]

using the refrac is much quicker and easier when you're sparging and for post boil gravity checks. I just use the hydro for FG.

 

[LKABrewer]

You can't beat the refractometer if you are looking at efficiency problems. The ability to take a couple of drops of runnings and measure within 30 seconds really helps. I have calibrated vs. the hydrometer several times, and while it may be +-.002 off, it sure beats cooling down a hydromter-sized sample.

 

[TonySwank]

Like most other people have said it is a great way to save some time on your brew day. I've been using a cheap one like this from ebay and I've been very happy with it.

 

[EarthBound]

The answer, simply put, is "yes!"

I believe it's an absolute must. Hydrometers break easily and are not self-calibrating. I take at least a couple readings per brew session to make sure my efficiency is acceptable.

 

[Armen_Tamzarian]

I'm going to go ahead and purchase one of these ebay ones. Pretty stoked about it. Thank you all for the advice and help as always!