Homebrewing - Beer, Mead, Wine, Cider

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A community dedicated to homebrewing beer, mead, wine, cider and everything in between. If it ferments, bring it over here.

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Refractometers (lemmy.world)

submitted 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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I ordered a cheap chinese optical refractometer from Amazon to use for convenience instead of a traditional hydrometer. It seemed accurate enough after calibration, I don't expect magic or lab results. Ballpark is fine by me.

I got suspicious when my cider and wine have kept stopping at 1.020-1.025 and nothing I whatever I tried would only make them bubble for another few days and reduce a couple of degrees Oe. So I did a reading with my hydrometer to verify. Yep, the SG for the cider ~1.000 and with the wine in negatives.

Checking out the refractometer it says it is for beer.

Is there a difference for wine and beer refractometers? Is is this refractometer, cheap chinese ones in general or is it me?

Cheers

Edit: twas me

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[–] [email protected] 0 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Refractometers are one of the most misunderstood tools in home brewing. The two biggest mistakes are using the sg side of a dual brix/sg scale (the conversion is non-linear, and the scale will likely become increasingly off between the two the higher the gravity), and using one like a hydrometer, ie simply subtracting final from original gravity. Instead, only use the brix side of the scale, and use a calculator such as this one to determine the actual specific gravity/abv once fermentation begins: https://www.brewersfriend.com/refractometer-calculator/ (don't worry too much about the Wort Correction Factor.) Do that, and your refractometer will be your best friend.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 6 months ago

Thanks! I'll look into it!