Cheapo Refractometer

[koomber]

Found this on ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320608502287&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT

Seems a good price for a refractometer that has a named manufacturer.

[lockwood1956]

Looks the business...


and for the price...you just cant go wrong

[koomber]

I figured since Rich is starting to make beer and he's expecting me to help, well, I'd better bring something useful...

And in a typical "If it's worth doing, it's worth overdoing" me and Rich (It's his fault, honest guv) have also decided to give making yeast slants a shot so that we can harvest speciallity yeasts and save those all important pennies.

Hopefully all the gear will arrive in time for the brewday this weekend.

PS: Hope you enjoyed the holiday.

[Cellar_Rat]

It it worth checking the scale on these. Often they are brix only, leaving the user to do the maths. Brix / alc is better (easier)..

[koomber]

These are brix only refractometers,

I wouldn't go as far to call them better, it depends on what you are using them for...

But if your just (say) checking the SG of some juice/must before it is fermenting and you are making wine then you'll be okay. If your using it for during the fermentation then it's 6 and half a dozen since you need to account for the alcohol content so you loose the advantage


But if your making beer it's basically the only useful scale since the alcohol content measurements assume your fermenting lower than you would usually go with a beer.

[lockwood1956]

Sometimes they come with Brix and oeschle (sp) scale...

oeschle equates to SG (more or less)

I use mine to test brix of fruit and grapes and juice...great as only one drop required....once ferment is underway, my hydrometer is my friend! (as there are no adjustments to the reading required)

but we all have our different way of doing things, and not one way is right, one man's meat etc etc

regards
Bob

[solly]

Got mine delivered this morning from Hong Kong

A couple of things to note koomber in maybe helping you choose the correct one for you. (mine has a Brix and alcohol scale)

You need to have a good light to see the scale, indoors is not so good, even pointing at a strong light, outside in daylight it worked fine, but when choosing my one I did notice in the search that there were versions with an LED light which makes it easier to read in low light.

Also I caliberated mine with drinking water, they say you should use distilled water for the calibrating process.........I then tested it with wine that was shown to be below 1.00SG with my hydrometer and my refractometer is showing 5% Brix with is = to 1.019 SG so I dont know if by not using distrilled water is pushing the calibration out?

[goldseal]

Alcohol in the wine will affect the Brix reading. You need to perform a complex calculation which uses the starting SG to adjust. There is a handy spreadsheet somewhere on the Interweb, and I'm sure someone will come along shortly and tell us where it is!

[koomber]

Alcohol in the wine will affect the Brix reading. You need to perform a complex calculation which uses the starting SG to adjust. There is a handy spreadsheet somewhere on the Interweb, and I'm sure someone will come along shortly and tell us where it is!

Yup. Pesky alcomahols interferreting with my SG readings.

http://morewinemaking.com/public/wine/Wine_refract.xls

(Posted by northernwiner some time ago)

[koomber]

Just got the refractometer. dows exactly what it says on the tin Comes in a nice faux leather case to keep it safe and secure. Well worth the £13 price of admission.
EDIT: I'll also add that it has a sturdy contruction and a metal body. Certainly does not feel like a cheap piece of kit.

[fatbloke]

Just got the refractometer. dows exactly what it says on the tin Comes in a nice faux leather case to keep it safe and secure. Well worth the £13 price of admission.
EDIT: I'll also add that it has a sturdy contruction and a metal body. Certainly does not feel like a cheap piece of kit.

I also looked at the cheapest ones, but still haven't parted with the cash, as the one that looked easiest to me to use (for a nugget like me) was one that shows a display like the one often pictured on Luc Volders Blog, though I'm guessing that it's just one that's aimed at the German/Austrian/Dutch/Belgian market as it also seems to indicate numbers that look remarkably like gravity, but I suspect is the Oe scale........ the only one that I could find when I looked last was from Brouwland and was about £60 or so.... a little more that I want to spend but will if that's the only way.......

regards

jtfb

[David]

As an (early) retired construction cost consultant, calculating using Brix makes more sense to me than SG.

[fatbloke]

As an (early) retired construction cost consultant, calculating using Brix makes more sense to me than SG.

Of course, but when pretty much everything else in the home brew world in the UK deals in gravity readings, it's a shame that there's not something like brix/gravity etc

regards

jtfb

[lockwood1956]

it's a shame that there's not something like brix/gravity etc

some come as Brix/Oe and Oe is Oeschle which is the same (virtually) as SG