Refractometer

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RoosterBrew

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Hi Guy's, is there any advantage in using a ATC Refractometer over a Non ATC Refractometer or Hydrometer. I currently use a Hydrometer and cool my wort down to 20 degree c ( calibration temp ) for pre boil & post boil gravity readings. Looking at info on net I understand that ATC Refractometers have an auto temp correction range between 10 / 30 degree c. I was thinking of buying an ATC Refracometer but if I have to wait until the wort is at 30*c or less it hardly seems worth it. I normally have about an hours wait with Hyro glass in the fridge to get down to 20*c from mash temp as I like to get an accurate reading. Is a Non ATC Refractometer better can you read at any temp and use a correction chart or calculation and are correction charts calculation formulas accurate. My Idea was to save the waiting time between mash and boil and to have less messing around to get final gravity readings, but I also read they are no good for fermented wort gravity readings so I wonder are they worth having at all.
 
RoosterBrew said:
Hi Guy's, is there any advantage in using a ATC Refractometer over a Non ATC Refractometer or Hydrometer. I currently use a Hydrometer and cool my wort down to 20 degree c ( calibration temp ) for pre boil & post boil gravity readings. Looking at info on net I understand that ATC Refractometers have an auto temp correction range between 10 / 30 degree c. I was thinking of buying an ATC Refracometer but if I have to wait until the wort is at 30*c or less it hardly seems worth it. I normally have about an hours wait with Hyro glass in the fridge to get down to 20*c from mash temp as I like to get an accurate reading. Is a Non ATC Refractometer better can you read at any temp and use a correction chart or calculation and are correction charts calculation formulas accurate. My Idea was to save the waiting time between mash and boil and to have less messing around to get final gravity readings, but I also read they are no good for fermented wort gravity readings so I wonder are they worth having at all.
Click to expand...

welcome to the forum - this is an intresting point as many people go by many diffrent ways, im sure that you will hear all sides of the story here..

as for myself im still a kit and WOW man so i wont tell you whats best:oops:
 
Not entirely sure, but if you're using literally only a couple of drops of hot wort, it'll likely cool down pretty quickly. I doubt you'll need to wait for the whole lot to hit 303 Kelvin, just the bit that's on the refractometer...?
 
Geiger is correct, copy and paste below:
An ATC refractometer has a bimetal strip inside the instrument that moves
the reading scale as the temperature changes to compensate for the change
in refractive index.
What people do not generally understand is that it is the temperature of the
instrument and not the water temperature that is important as the small
sample of water used for testing will equilibrate within seconds to the
temperature of the refractometer.
Click to expand...
 
Yes I had not thought about that, a few drops on a spoon would cool quickly! I guess my next question is are the ATC Refractometers as accurate as Hydrometers.
 
The idea is to take a few drops in a pipette and cool under the tap and apply to the refractometer. I have seen some brewers dip a finger into the wort and rub it on the glass. If you put too much liquid that is too hot it can cause damage to the prism but with a drop or two this is unlikely to happen.
 
geetee said:
The idea is to take a few drops in a pipette and cool under the tap and apply to the refractometer. I have seen some brewers dip a finger into the wort and rub it on the glass. If you put too much liquid that is too hot it can cause damage to the prism but with a drop or two this is unlikely to happen.
Click to expand...



Good tip on running the pipettes under a tap.
Refractometer so are awesome as they let you see what is happening in near enough real time with no real wastage of wort. The refracto app (not sure if it is iOS only) is really useful to convert from Brix, even once fermentation starts if you use the cubic calculations (If not Terrill has the same calculator on his website).
 

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