refractometer

[granda]

can anyone recommend a refractometer preferably with brix and gravity readings

 

[Wade E]

I dont know if there are good and bad ones as of yet but I just bought a ATC refractometer off Ebay for $31 shipped to me. The ATC stands for Automatic temp compensation so its also great for brewing beer and taking sg readings of hot wort. It came with a case and is made of aluminum.

 

[granda]

is it worth buying wade or will i be wasting my time

 

[Tom]

I agree with Wade. Get a ATC one. I also got mine on EBAY. BTW I think they only measure BRIX and not 2 scales. All you need to do is convert brix to SG.
I have one for when I make BEER. I can add a HOT sample and get a good reading.
Now for WINE, Are you gonna make from grapes? If so the get one if you plan on picking. If making kits I see no advantage. Make sure you have at least TWO hydrometers. That will be your best friend in winemaking.

 

[Wade E]

I agree with Tom, if making frm grapes or if you pick your own fruit or make beer it is a great tool to have. if you dont do any of these it will be basically a big waste of money for you!

 

[granda]

i do intend to make agood lot of wine come the summer so i'll research a little more and i will see if i'll buy one thanks for the input

 

[Wade E]

If you grow your own fruit this is the best way to know when your fruit are truly ready for picking.

 

[Luc]

I bought a refractometer some years ago and immediately whished I had bought it earlier. It is a great tool when dealing with many batches of wine.

- With ATC temperature is automatically corrected when
doing a reading. So no hassle of cooling down the must etc.
- It only needs 1 drop instead of a testing tube full of must
to do the reading.
- Reading is easily done and not obscured in a foaming must
as with a hydrometer.
- Cleaning is a matter of a secons. Just wipe the screen
with a paper towel or something similar.

The only setback is that it is more difficult to
do a 'running test'. Meaning that once the must starts fermenting
you can not do an accurate reading because the alcohol interferes with the reading. You need to use a spreadsheet to convert the readings at that time.

But hey: who measures SG anyhow after fermentation has started ???? I have never done so.............

And before anyone starts wondering: indeed I also never do an end SG reading when my wine has finished. The only exception is when I do tests for my web-log.

I have a web-log story comming up which discusses the refractometer in great detail with pictures.

Luc

 

[granda]

cheers luc thats made my mind up im gonna get on do you have any recommendations as ive seen a few on ebay (i emailed you last night for advice)

 

[Luc]

Sorry, no recommendations concerning brand and type as I am in Europe and we have (I presume) different models as are offered in the US.

Ours have a combined SG and Alcohol scale, you can see a picture of mine in action about 1/3thd down this page:

http://wijnmaker.blogspot.com/2009/12/merlot.html

You might however prefer Brix as a scale.
Then again converting brix to sg or vise versa is not THAT difficult
rule of thumb:

Brix x 4 = SG
SG / 4 = brix

So a Brix reading of 10 would be an SG reading of 1040
An SG reading of 1080 would be 80/4 = 20

Actually this is a bit off, however workable.

By an ATC type anyhow.

Luc

 

[granda]

dont worry luc in in europe as well (ireland ) so i'll have a lok about to see what i find

 

[Wade E]

Ireland, arent you supposed to be making beer! LOL

 

[granda]

wine,beer its all the same, water with flavouring and alcohol

 

[xanxer82]

Just ordered a refractometer with ATC. It'll come in handy when I buy a few lugs of grapes.