Am i wrong ?

[Phantom]

Yup! single product analysis. So just to measure available sugars. As soon as some of that sugar is converted, you have a second product skewing the reading.

A reasonable analogy with a hydrometer might be measuring sugars available for ferment, but still trying to take a reading when there's a fair bit of fruit/pull in the must, which also skews a hydrometer reading (potentially).

Both do a similar job, but the way they measure using different techniques is why both will do the job in different ways etc.

It's using the right tool for the job at the appropriate time.

[ninja_geezer]

I can't see that anyone was suggesting their still was better than someone else's?

@phantom. You say "Actually, refractometers are best used for their intended purpose, to work out whether a batch is ready to ferment

But, Different refractometers have different purposes ......mine for example shows the abv of a clear spirit on a scale of 0 to 80%.......it certainly won't tell me when a wash is 'ready to ferment'. That would probably be a Brixton scale version
Mine can be calibrated and is accurate to within + or - 1%
I find it extremely useful for determining how much water to add to a specific volume to get to 40% when used with the online calculator

Spot on could not have said it better myself...saved me a job ..

[H12rpo]

I can't see that anyone was suggesting their still was better than someone else's?

@phantom. You say "Actually, refractometers are best used for their intended purpose, to work out whether a batch is ready to ferment

But, Different refractometers have different purposes ......mine for example shows the abv of a clear spirit on a scale of 0 to 80%.......it certainly won't tell me when a wash is 'ready to ferment'. That would probably be a Brix scale version
Mine can be calibrated and is accurate to within + or - 1%
I find it extremely useful for determining how much water to add to a specific volume to get to 40% when used with the online calculator

Spot on could not have said it better myself...saved me a job ..

[Easydrinker]

I find it extremely useful for determining how much water to add to a specific volume to get to 40% when used with the online calculator[/quote]...

My hydrometer does pretty much the same thing?

Let's quit the point scoring here and accept that there are different ways of doing stuff?

Robert.