StillSmart

They don't work for finishing point. Still best to lob a hydrometer in for that.

The brix one makes working out extra sugar reeeeeeeeeaaallly easy.

Mash wrote:They don't work for finishing point. Still best to lob a hydrometer in for that.

The brix one makes working out extra sugar reeeeeeeeeaaallly easy.

Not sure what you mean by that???? It certainly is fine for measuring the finishing %age of a fermented wash

I meant answering the "is it done yet " question.

Ahhhh got you.....quite right

You boys are in a corner, quibbling.
Your mash is in a bucket, when it stops bubbling, it is done.
Doesn't matter Re-fracto or Hydro, when the yeasties call it a day and die, your wash is finished,(unless you throw in more yeasties).
I don't rate one item over the other, but neither of them will tell you that your wash has finished, any better than lack of fizzing activity.
I await to be enlightened that I am missing something here.
Always prepared to look like an idjut for the common good.
I act like one a lot of the time anyway.

Robert.

+1.
No quibble 'ere.
Depends how done you want it.
The point is a refractometer can't help at that stage.

I'm still not objecting to being the forum idiot, I have broad shoulders.

Mash wrote:The point is a refractometer can't help at that stage.

A hydrometer will also not tell you that a brew has finished. Only where it is.

I'm sticking with the assertion that neither will inform you that it is "done".

Robert.

Yeah. I suppose it depends how to define done.

Sometimes 'done' is not necessarily fermentatered to bone dry but where you want it to get to.

So yes.

Not personally doing wines or beers where you may want to kill off your yeasties while still active, for me "done" is when the yeasties expire and activity stops.....
That seems to suit distilling well?

Suit you sir? Oh, suit you sir!

Robert.

Ok so i seem to have got a refractometer that is spot on with my hydrometer readings at last.
its so much easier as mash said ,just hold it under take a few drips and read ,no messing filling a trial jar to use hydrometer,Its just really useful to get instant readings direct from the still.thanks to mash and H12rpo for the heads up..

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

They are meant to be used in the vineyard because it saves the effort of crushing, pressing and measuring with a hydrometer i.e. so you can squish one grape for enough juice to see if the grapes are harvest ready.

Using a refractometer to test a batch once it's fermented, requires correction because once alcohol is present, it throws the reading out giving an incorrect result.

There are correction tables available, but confirmation requires hydrometer or more technical lab machinery to confirm.

Of course, we're making at home, so we don't need to worry about professional level testing and accuracy (they need good accuracy, as inaccurate/imprecise measuring could cost them more in excise duty etc).

Oh and while it's nice to quote figures etc, this is a hobby activity so is there really any needs for pissing contests of "my still is better than your still" etc.......

Phantom I absolutely agree with your previous post. No pissin 'ere (or certainly none intended)

I have a refractometer in Brix scale for vineyard usage, as you describe and another in spirit scale too.

Mash wrote:Phantom I absolutely agree with your previous post. No pissin 'ere (or certainly none intended)

I have a refractometer in Brix scale for vineyard usage, as you describe and another in spirit scale too.

I haven't got round to getting one yet, but I found them callibrated in oeschle, which is the scale used in the Austrian/German industry as it's vvv similar to gravity as close as damn it.......

Equally, it seems you get what you pay for as we can get one for £20-£30 but also a good/well known make for a couple of hundred, with better lenses, prism etc.

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