Still Smarter

Had enough of breaking alcometer's, can anyone recommend a decent refractometer please

If an alcometer is a spirit hydrometer, me too. Paul at Brew Genie reported me to the hydrometer abuse hot line years ago but I still buy them! 5 or 6 within the last eight years. My advice do not use them while stood in a kitchen with a quarry tiled floor or while on the patio. I have broken 2 on the patio (different patios) while distilling drought Gin at parties, before I started drinking Gin.

Optical refractometer... see attached Had it 3 years, cost £13.99 then. I use refractometer and hydrometer.

I only use refractometer on patio.

Thanks WG, I've seen few ATC ones in TB vids, popular manufacturer

buffalobob wrote: Sun Apr 27, 2025 2:16 pm Had enough of breaking alcometer's, can anyone recommend a decent refractometer please

For spirits or for fermentation?

The one I have/use is a spirit hydrometer. I did not consider a fermentation refractometer as I produce a neutral wash. With the same ingredients each time I know what the the starting SG and finishing SG is. After 125+ washes I know.

However, I do change 1 (one) parameter at a time on ocasion during distillation. I want to know what effect that may achieve.

The refractometer allows me to monitor this.

Hum? not sure I've ever seen a refractometer calibrated for distilled spirits.

They're mainly for assessing sugar content prior to fermentation. Some use them during fermentation but as soon as there's alcohol present, you get an incorrect reading.

Personally, I just use a sanitised "turkey baster" to take my samples, a standard plastic 100ml testing tube and the alcometer I got about 15 years back.

I did find some very small glass hydrometers that were cheap, so I got 6 - some of those have broken, but I just strained the test materials with lab filters made into a cone that sit inside a funnel......

Used a turkey blaster on my wife once. Not true. Didn't work, wife objected, I cane close to building a kennel as my own residence. So no. Stay away from Turkey basters.

Yes, Optical refractometer are manufactured to accommodate various fluid solutions. The most accurate measure ethanol content within water. Spirit %Abv.

Fermentation refractometers are available. Sugar contents within ?/what complicates the validity/accuracy of the visible readings.

I want one for spirits Mash, just read a review on the 0-80% spirit refractometer; reported that it was accurate to 65% only. Is yours accurate WG? Have you trialed it against an alcometer, that would be interesting to know.

I always use my spirit hydrometer. Period.

I use the optical refractometer to confirm. If it's different I check again and again.

My wife bought me a refractometer a couple of years ago.

I can’t get a single note out of it, let alone a tune!

I am surprised, I thought with your eyes your aural perception may have become more attuned.

Blind and deaf then......

For fermentation I use both a glass and an electronic hydrometer.
The glass for OG and FG readings, and the Ispindel electronic one during fermenting.
Thus I can watch the decline in SG. It's not the accuracy of the numbers, more the trend of the slope so I know when it's finished.
The glass one is for the calculations of abv /OG / FG.
It works well for me, and I can see the electronic one on my phone. Which is handy.

As for glass ones, I have 3 or 4, what with slippy fingers and they are easily broken. Lost several like that.

Was in my local micro brewery a couple of days ago, and he has a set of big glass hydrometers. Each one only covers a smal range of about 20 points, and are £100 each! But then he is brewing beer commercially.

Ele.

Elecrafter wrote: Fri May 02, 2025 8:56 am {snip}
Was in my local micro brewery a couple of days ago, and he has a set of big glass hydrometers. Each one only covers a smal range of about 20 points, and are £100 each! But then he is brewing beer commercially.

Ele.

The ones used for commercial production have a high degree of accuracy, as taxation calculations require.

Lots of £'s

I'd guess that there must be some sort of mandated standard that they have to comply with, only I'm too lazy to drill down into the small print to find out etc

Mmm. Less than £4 from Paul at Brew Genie.

My refractometer was a wee cheap and cheerful one but it seems to do the job. Or at least gives a ball park figure to work from!
Not had time to do anything much of late. Really need to get all the kit out again...

buffalobob wrote: Thu May 01, 2025 4:11 pm I want one for spirits Mash, just read a review on the 0-80% spirit refractometer; reported that it was accurate to 65% only. Is yours accurate WG? Have you trialed it against an alcometer, that would be interesting to know.

I use mine all the time to dilute to 40%
The accuracy is lost probably because the scale shrinks. Very happy with mine.

I imagine you are. I can see 2 of you from here. Neither, either, iether or both would add up to 40%.

Please send me details of wher I might purchase one or two.

Both are on ebay.
https://ebay.us/m/xQo9gu
And
https://ebay.us/m/xQo9gu

Yes. That is the one I use, along with a hydrometer. Both reliable and consistent. The hydrometer's break if you drop them on the kitchen floor or patio however.