Refractometer

[genel41]

I have a like new refractometer for battery acid and glycol antifreze testing . My question is can this be used for testing my beer wort ?

 

[kh54s10]

If it ever had battery acid or glycol on it I would not use it. But, what is the range of the scale? Brix or Specific gravity or something else?? You will also need to know what temperature sample it will accurately measure.

 

[ong]

Does it have a density axis on the readout (g/cm^3)?


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[surffisher2a]

As long as its in the correct range for beer / wine samples I don't see why you can't use it.

Even if it had bad stuff on it, I don't think that would matter because your not putting those one or two drops of sample back into the batch.

 

[pablosbrewing]

As long as its in the correct range for beer / wine samples I don't see why you can't use it.

Even if it had bad stuff on it, I don't think that would matter because your not putting those one or two drops of sample back into the batch.

I am pretty sure the prism / scale is different for glycol.

 

[Demus]

It doesn't matter whether or not it's clean or used. It WON'T work accurately. The scale on a brewing refractometer is calibrated for sugar solutions, NOT anti-freeze!! Anti-freeze has a different affect on light than sugar. Refractometers don't actually measure density, they measure refraction, which is viewed through a scale to estimate density. That's why they're not accurate once fermentation begins.


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[pablosbrewing]

That's why they're not accurate once fermentation begins.

IMO - they are plenty accurate after fermentation starts you just have to use a calculator. I prefer Brix only scale versions since that is the reading you really use.

http://www.northernbrewer.com/refractometer-calculator/

 

[kh54s10]

If it ever had battery acid or glycol on it I would not use it. But, what is the range of the scale? Brix or Specific gravity or something else?? You will also need to know what temperature sample it will accurately measure.

I didn't think about using it separate from the beer (not allowing anything back into the brew), but the question is still the scale of that hydrometer.

Will it tell you anything useful?? And/or does it measure the gravity of sugars accurately since it was designed for acid or glycol.

 

[Demus]

Will it tell you anything useful?? And/or does it measure the gravity of sugars accurately since it was designed for acid or glycol.

No and no.
Again, refractometers measure the way light bends or "refracts" through a liquid. The scale on the instrument is specific to the liquid being measured because the effect the liquid has on light is unique to that liquid...


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[genel41]

If it ever had battery acid or glycol on it I would not use it. But, what is the range of the scale? Brix or Specific gravity or something else?? You will also need to know what temperature sample it will accurately measure.

You only need to put a drop or 2 so it don't matter what it had on it I am not going to put that drop back in there .

 

[tracyk]

Most battery refractometers that I have seen start at 1.10 and work their way up to 1.80, so unless you are going to brew a really, really big brew they are useless. You can buy one off ebay for about $20.00 bucks for brewing.

And what Demus stated it is measuring the amount of refraction on a certain liquid, so each refractometers is for that specific liquid.