refractometer

[Daznz]

Hi
Im looking at getting a refractometer are they worth there weight in gold or not.
I read about people having problems setting them up in promash and heavy particulate matter in the wort making readings wrong etc..
How do you guys find them?
Cheers Daza

 

[Brewiz]

I use one all the time and wouldn't do without it.

 

[ajf]

The advantages are:
One drop sampling size.
No temperature compensation. (The thermal mass of one drop is so small it can be ignored, and most instruments have built in temperature compensation.) - You can take a drop from the boil and check within a few points in a couple of seconds.
More accurate than a cheap hydrometer if you have poor eyesight.
They don't roll off the counter and smash into thousands of pieces when they hit the floor.
Great for doing what they are designed to do (measuring the sucrose content of fruit).

The disadvantages are:
Not as accurate as a good hydrometer (With good eyesight.)
Good for OG, but not very good once fermenting has started
More expensive.
The one drop sample size is useless for tasting.

-a.

 

[Exo]

An old hobby of mine was saltwater fish tanks. Sure wish the $100 refractometer (salinity) for that hobby would work for this one!

 

[Desert_Sky]

An old hobby of mine was saltwater fish tanks. Sure wish the $100 refractometer (salinity) for that hobby would work for this one!

it doesnt, ive tried.. however someone was saying there is a conversion formula for it

 

[Dude]

I got to use mine for the first time in my last brew. It was awesome. It is pretty convenient being able to take a sample striaght from the kettle without chilling it and goofing with a hydrometer.

I'm loving the simplicity.

 

[Daznz]

Cheers Thanks for your help guys.... Ok ill buy one

 

[runhard]

Daznz, I saw that www.stpats.com here in Austin has refractometers on sales. Some very low. Not sure which will work for you but might be worth checking out their website just in case one of the closeout models is what you're looking for.

 

[gnef]

do not get the 0-10 brix, you need the 0-32 for brewing most kinds of beers. i forgot teh conversion, but 10 brix is a fairly low gravity beer. 41 dollars for 0-32 is still pretty cheap though, at least in my mind.

 

[cweston]

10 brix is about 1.040 SG.

If you collect 7 gals of 1.040 and boiled it down to 5.5 gals, that'd be a 1.050 wort.

So, yeah: the 10 brix model does seem like it would be extremely limiting.

 

[BootYtRappeR]

Refractometers will also give you the final gravity with the calculator built into Promash and other brewing software.