Vinometre

[jedraka]

Has anyone used one, How accurate are they.
Tom.

[fatbloke]

Has anyone used one, How accurate are they.
Tom.

I've got one (it was cheap), though I've never used it, because of apparent inaccuracy (I also asked a similar question when I first started). So it just sits in the bottom of my "brew stuff" box. If you take readings with a hydrometer, and then use Bob's conversion chart (which lists the drops in gravity points and the equivalent to the % ABV), you don't need to worry about a magic bullet device like a vinometre - which isn't a magic bullet after all.

[jedraka]

Hi fatbloke,
to be honest with you I thought it was too good to be true, I was hoping to use it as a double check, if you like, so that I could test the finished wine
to see if I'd achieved the alcohol content I had planned, but the general opinion is they are not reliable enough so it will most likely end up in the bottom
of my "brew stuff" box, Thank's for your reply.
Tom.

[Cellar_Rat]

The science behind them is correct, but the finished product does vary in quality. They are 'OK' as a 'rough' guide.

[fatbloke]

Hi fatbloke,
to be honest with you I thought it was too good to be true, I was hoping to use it as a double check, if you like, so that I could test the finished wine
to see if I'd achieved the alcohol content I had planned, but the general opinion is they are not reliable enough so it will most likely end up in the bottom
of my "brew stuff" box, Thank's for your reply.
Tom.

Well I seem to recall that I got mine as per what Brian (Cellar_Rat) said, but what I said about using gravity and Bob's chart to work it out, is probably more accurate than the rough "guesstimate" as Brian alluded to. I already had the hydrometer so just went with that, in the knowledge that the vinometre cost me a couple of quid so it was "nothing lost".......

Plus as I make mostly meads, I find the there's a huge margin for error already as honey musts might conform to the numbers, they certainly aren't as predictable as grape or other fruit batches - and of course, like the rest of us, I certainly don't have the readies to think about using stuff like densiometers, gas chrom's or mass spec devices to achieve mega accuracy required by the "men with funny shaped heads" (HMRC).......

[Cellar_Rat]

JFB. Absolutely agree!
I only use my vinometer when my baggy hands forget to either a) use the hydrometer in the first place or b) forgot to write it down.
Good use of a hydrometer or refractometer and you don't need it.

[mcblades]

and if you forget to take an OG reading you can still work out the final ABV using BOTH a refractometer and a hydrometer on the finished wine/bee. Result!

[Cellar_Rat]

Confession time then. I use a refractometer to start get my 'start point' in brix - SOOOOOO MUCH easier, both for testing, adding sugar and reading.
And I bung the hydrometer into the must to confirm it has finished.

[Jimmy_T]

I only use my hydrometer, works fine for me, see no need in using the vinometer

[jedraka]

JIMMY_T
Yes it work's fine for me too, My intention ( had it proved to be more accurate ) was to use it as a cross reference, Belt and brace's if you like. None
of us can be certain of the exact alcohol content of our finished wine, I just naively thought it was a magic tool that would give me a more accurate reading, No such luck.
Thank's for your reply.
Tom.