Refractometer

[pimpsqueak]

dang these are cheap EVILBAY CN HYDROMETER

anyone got one from this seller? Results?

I have one. Seems to work fine, though I have to agree with comments above that a scale of 0-18 brix would be easier to read.

 

[alfadog]

dang these are cheap EVILBAY CN HYDROMETER

anyone got one from this seller? Results?

iamozziyob,

I have bought one of these, pretty sure from the same seller. The refractometer works a treat and accurate too.

 

[Yob]

hovering over the buy now..... click :lol:

thanks lads

:icon_cheers:

 

[Doubleplugga]

picked one up for 40 bucks last week from TWOC if any of the WA guys are interested. has Brix and SG, best thing i have bought in a long time

 

[ashley_leask]

Have a look at Refractometer Sg-alcohol Correction Chart

The thing to be aware of is that once alcohol is present in your wort/beer,
the specific gravity readings need to be corrected.

T.

Ed-2: Also just realised that hopefully you have the refractometer that
also has SG display values (i.e. 1000 ... 1010 ... etc) as well as the brix
values (else you would need to translate brix to SG values - just multiply
by 4?)

Careful with these, I found the SG reading on mine to be far enough out vs. a hydrometer to be basically useless. Once I started using the Brix scale and set up the hydrometer calibration in Beersmith, I found I could get the same value from the refractometer (after translating through Beersmith) as the hydrometer.

Of course I didn't realize this until I'd spent hours trying to figure out why my efficiency had gone to hell for two batches.

 

[Edak]

I ordered this last week:

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/330678989608

Will let others know how it goes when I receive it.

 

[cam89brewer]

so you can use a refractometer for stouts and dark beers? I hope this isn't a dumb question :lol:

 

[alfadog]

so you can use a refractometer for stouts and dark beers? I hope this isn't a dumb question :lol:

you can use it for dark beers, all is good cambrew, no such think as a dumb question, just grumpy people that feel obligated to answer.

 

[Yob]

Bump.

Hot diggety these things are great... used it for the first time yesterday and I got loads of data from it, it indicated I need to work on my sparge better as at final boil volume it was still at 1022-4 indicating I was not getting the sparge I wanted.

A great bit of kit and can highly recommend it... especially for that price :beerbang:

Fresh Linky

Yob

 

[Tim F]

Yeah they are awesome hey - I found one that goes up to 40 brix on ebay for the same price

 

[Truman42]

Bump.

Hot diggety these things are great... used it for the first time yesterday and I got loads of data from it, it indicated I need to work on my sparge better as at final boil volume it was still at 1022-4 indicating I was not getting the sparge I wanted.

A great bit of kit and can highly recommend it... especially for that price :beerbang:

Fresh Linky

Yob

Youve won me yob. Just brought the same one, thanks for the link.

 

[nala]

Yeah they are awesome hey - I found one that goes up to 40 brix on ebay for the same price

Why would you want one that measures 40 Brix ?
The one that measures up to 30 Brix would be more accurate,much easier to read.

 

[QldKev]

I've had an ebay one for a few years. When I first got it I took it to work and calibrated it against the brixometers there (very expensive gear). Pretty reliable readings over the entire range of what we need. On mine the sight glass adjustment (where you look through) stopped adjusting a couple of years back, but it's still clear enough to read it.


QldKev

 

[fraser_john]

I have a 32 brix one and find it hard to get a truly accurate reading due to the scale, I keep meaning to buy an 18 brix model as that is a 1.074 starting gravity beer at the high end and I rarely brew one of those.

Example

Just have to get my arse in gear and buy a second one for the 18 Brix

 

[stux]

Avoid the one with the built in light. It seems like an nice feature at the time, but the bloody thing allows liquid through it, cuasing all kinds of issues!

I got mine off ebay and apart from the light issue above, have had no problems with the unit.

A must have in the brewery.

Yep, was just about to post.

I bought the one with the light, the led has a hole directly to the prism so you end up with wort INSIDE your refractometer pretty much after just a few uses. Before you know it you have moldy stuff growing on all the lenses!!!!

...

Never one to give up immediately, I tried opening it up and cleaning all of the lenses.

Two problems

1) its whacked now, i guess they're internally calibrated at the factory, and I couldn't get the calibration back
2) the momemt I rinsed it, water on the main lenses again... crap.

So, now I have a nice spare case, and an understanding on how refractometers really work.... and am waiting on a bog standard 32 Brix ATC model to arrive from ebay.

Sigh.

 

[mikec]

As a side note to those looking at these ebay jobbies, go for the "old model" versions that need a screw driver to adjust the calibration. The "new model" has a knob on top that you can adjust with your hand. Problem is, it's too easy to bump it and un-calibrate it.

 

[lukasfab]

just got the 18brix one,

 

[iralosavic]

I ummed and ahhed about 18 vs 32. Even though I'm unlikely to brew any more than one or two beers a year with a higher OG than available on the 18, I went with the 32, just because it covers everything and others report no problems reading them to within .5 of a brix with average eyesight. Horses for courses though. At $30, you could always just by both or whip out the hydrometer. Either option is a safe bet.