Hydrometer vs Refractometer

The Homebrew Forum

Help Support The Homebrew Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

steveng

Active Member
Joined
Jul 17, 2017
Messages
34
Reaction score
5
Location
Antrim, N.Ireland
Hi,

Could someone please explain to be, in simple terms, when I can and can't use a refractometer? I understand, or think I understand, that with alcohol present the refractometer reading needs adjusted to give an accurate reading. Is the Brix value also inaccurate, or is it just the sg value?

I posted on another forum about a brew I had done which stop fermenting at what I thought was a too high gravity. That discussion quickly went over my head!

Thanks,

Steven
 
I now use a refractometer all the time and wouldn't go back to hydrometer. The only adjustment you may need to make is for the temperature. IE the refractometer is calibrated for a particular temp such as 20°c. So if your wort is above or below this you'll need to make an adjustment. Hope this helps[emoji3]

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
 
The Brix value isn't inaccurate, it just needs modifying for any alcohol present. Plenty of tools to do this.

Likewise SG readings on a refractometer need adjusting for alcohol content. But I don't know of any tools to do this. SG readings just lure folk into the belief that what they are reading is true. SG scales on refractometers are a waste of space.

Try breaking a refractometer. Quite difficult. Try breaking a hydrometer; just staring at them is sometimes enough.


(EDIT: As for temperature: Most have inbuilt compensation, within reason. But how long for a thin smear of beer (couple of drops sample) to be the same temperature as the refractometer? I ignore temperature.)
 
I have both but tend to lean towards the hydrometer most of the time...

Personal preference mainly I think
 
I use a refractometer whilst brewing (more for ease of taking multiple reading pre boil, post boil etc), but once finished fermenting I use my hydrometer to get a final gravity reading (The beer used doesn't get wasted, it gets drunk!)
 

Latest posts

Back
Top