11 replies to this topic

[Deerslyr]

Logged on this morning to find Refractormeters on sale for one day only at Austin Homebrew. Nearly half off their regular price. I'm already on my third hydrometer, so this is a good buy for me.

[ColdAssHonky]

Looks like the guys at Austin Homebrew know how to use Ebay too. The one on Ebay is $0.04 lower and ships free.Link to 29.95 Refractometer

Edited by MyBeerPants, 17 November 2009 - 10:05 AM.

[DaBearSox]

Looks like the guys at Austin Homebrew know how to use Ebay too. The one on Ebay is $0.04 lower and ships free.Link to 29.95 Refractometer

well...i didnt plan on buying any beer tools today but this is too hard to pass up...I have always wanted to get one of these and test it against a hydrometer...plus less samples = more beer for me...

[ColdAssHonky]

well...i didnt plan on buying any beer tools today but this is too hard to pass up...I have always wanted to get one of these and test it against a hydrometer...plus less samples = more beer for me...

I have a B-day coming up in a few days and this is one of the only things I asked for. If I get socks instead... :stabby:

[Deerslyr]

Looks like the guys at Austin Homebrew know how to use Ebay too. The one on Ebay is $0.04 lower and ships free.Link to 29.95 Refractometer

If that is all you are getting, then certainly E-Bay would be good. With the flat shipping, I'm having a couple of other items I need tossed in as well. So it makes it more economical. I've also ordered from Austin before and know them to be reputable and quick.I too am anxious to test it against the hydrometer a few times until I get accustomed to it. Hate wasting a full sample every time I want to test.

[MakeMeHoppy]

I got one a month or two ago and love it. Doing batch sparging it is nice to get the brix of the first and second runnings so that I can tell if I am close to my efficiency. If I'm way off I can also use some extract at the start of the boil instead of waiting until just before I pitch the yeast when I take my hydro reading.I have a lot of luck matching readings between refractometer and hydrometer before fermentation. I used beersmith for my final reading before kegging and am off by about 5 points between the two.

[DaBearSox]

is it hard to tell between lines? I saw one picture where the scale is up to 32 with increments of .5

[MakeMeHoppy]

is it hard to tell between lines? I saw one picture where the scale is up to 32 with increments of .5

I'm at work, but if I remember correctly there is a major line every 4 brix with minor lines each 1 brix and then you can easily see if it is on or between the 1 lines. It is very easy to read with a little bit of light.

[3rd party JKor]

is it hard to tell between lines? I saw one picture where the scale is up to 32 with increments of .5

The separation of the lines is pretty fine. I probably have the same one AHB is selling (from the National Instrument Sales ebay store). The gradations are .20 Brix. I haven't played with mine a ton, but it's tough to even get it focused enough to clearly read what's the closest line. It's accurate enough, though, IMO. No more difficult to read accurately than a hydrometer. I used mine for the first time with my last batch. The OG and FG pretty much matched exactly with my hydro.

[strangebrewer]

The separation of the lines is pretty fine. I probably have the same one AHB is selling (from the National Instrument Sales ebay store). The gradations are .20 Brix. I haven't played with mine a ton, but it's tough to even get it focused enough to clearly read what's the closest line. It's accurate enough, though, IMO. No more difficult to read accurately than a hydrometer. I used mine for the first time with my last batch. The OG and FG pretty much matched exactly with my hydro.

+1I've had mine for a couple years now and use it quite a bit between wine making and being a batch sparge brewer. I haven't had any issues with focusing on mine but I agree if you're the type of person who likes to know your gravity to the .001 then these can be a bit infuriating. I don't know if more expensive ones are better as this is the only one i've used. It works well enough for my needs of monitoring fermentations or a quick measurement mid-process but if I want a precision OG or FG I still use my hydrometers.Oh and they only work well on clear wort. Same thing goes for wine if you have a bunch of particulate matter floating in there it will make for a very fuzzy line and probably pretty inaccurate reading.

[Stout_fan]

It's different than the one I have. But you can interpolate to 1/4 Brix. x4.0 will give you a reading accurate to about .001 SG.

[ChefLamont]

I got one off of ebay recently. I forget how much it was, but I sprung for the model with the built in LED light. While I thought it might be somewhat of a gimmic, it has turned out to be a really nice feature. It provides consistent white light that makes readings easy. This is especially nice now that the days are shorter and the odds of finishing the brew day in the dark are higher. Just my 2 cents for those in the market.