I used your video in my Physics class today. We are studying reflection and refraction so I was looking for examples of practical uses of Snell’s Law in industry. A 30% sugar/water solution has an index of refraction of roughly 1.38 compared to a 80% solution with index of 1.49. Thus the greater the amount of sugar in the water will cause the blue light to bend more and thus display higher on the scale-unfortunately class snowballed from there and we ended up spending most of class talking about different styles of beer and couldn’t get back on topic. Too bad really, last semester’s went so well when I used Archimedes principle to explain the hydrometer.
That's a question I've never been asked but I'd assume it works for starting gravity for sure. Finishing gravity -- as you likely know -- is often difficult to tell via refractometer unless you use one of the many conversion calculators available online. But it's doing the same thing it does with beer, wine, mead, and that is reading the specific gravity or BRIX of a sugar-water solution. I'll ask our CS folks to make sure, but I'm pretty sure you can use it for any sugar-to-alcohol solution.
Okay, so that's why I am not getting a good read. I just got a refractometer and i need first and last reads to determine SG. But I should be able to tell alch content with last read?
Unfortunately it's not quite that simple. Once wort begins to ferment, the alcohol in solution skews the reading. Only the original reading can be taken as-is. After that you need to run the reading through a refractometer calculator/converter. There is one on our website to help with this: www.northernbrewer.com/pages/refractometer-calculator But using this tool should help you figure out what ABV of your beverage is.
I usually brew my wine to as close as 990 as I can. However the refractometer only go to 1000 as far as I can see? Can anyone please clarify? My conclusion is it won't work for me but maybe I'm missing something?
hi sir, I have a question… I want to buy one of this with Brix and SG wort scale… funny thing, I see two kind of correspondence between scales… at 30 Brix is approx 1130 SG worth and another scale is 31 Brix is 1120 SG… what is wrong?
They are good, but I find you really need to mix your wort after the mash/sparge to get an accurate pre-boil gravity. Also note that if it reads in Brix & SG, I would ignore the SG as it's not accurate. It's been added purely as a guide. And with the Brix reading, it needs to be converted to Plato. I also wouldn't trust the alcohol calculators online either 😂 but apart from that...
Can you provide the calculation or formulas on your website (in addition to the calc tool)? They are very handy tools, but understanding the algebra is something I'd like to know, and cannot find any references elsewhere. Thanks!
Gravity refers to the amount of sugar in solution and is a way to track fermentation based on constant drop in gravity and the eventually steadying of a final gravity. This article might help as well: www.northernbrewer.com/blogs/beer-recipes-ingredients/final-gravity
Thanks for the video. My new refractometer does not change in response to distilled water and then sugar-saturated water. I don't know if I am doing anything wrong. Any ideas? Thanks in advance.
I've been using a hydro I purchased at my LHBS (for those of you who care). A refractometer seems appealing as it uses a much smaller sample and less wort is wasted. However, for some slow working yeast strains I may take several SG samples. If these don't work as well once fermentation is underway, I'm not seeing the value over my hydro. Can someone please elaborate?
so after you take your first gravity reading of the unfermented wort, when do you take your second reading to get the specific gravity for the measurement of ABV? ta
You cannot use a refractometer to measure any solution with alcohol as alcohol has a different refractive index than sugar. You need to use a hydrometer for the readings during and after fermentation.
Using a hydrometer the second time would make sense, in that it would tell you what the exact gravity without having to calibrate for the alcohol content.
So basically the refractometer is not so handy since you still need to waste a bunch of your brew on testing with a hydrometer after fermentation starts.
Guess the calculator was inaccurate and that's why you removed it from your website? And why not have the option to put in gravity before and after fermentation with a refractometer instead of just brix?
you should mention that the SG scale on these is not accurate. You did mention that its an estimate though but were not clear on the inaccuracy of the printed scale.
We know a few people who make their own in the Twin Cities area. Perhaps this coming maple season we can document that process. To isn't a how-to for home makers, but you might find this video interesting from a farm scale of production: ua-cam.com/video/51vhlErZSU4/v-deo.html
I measured my kombucha sample in a first day of brewing and refractometer showed 7 BRIX so that means my kombucha had 7% of sugar in it. After a few weeks of brewing I measured my kombucha again and refractometer showed me 11 BRIX! Is there any way to measure real suger content in my kombucha now with refractometer?
That may be true. But Amazon doesn't make helpful how-to videos for you, or have helpful people happy to answer your brewing questions. And when you drop your yeast all over the floor and need a new batch *now*, instead of tomorrow... Support your local brewshop.
@mmpantsless13 right on. Need more people like you in the world. We need to cut out this amazon and eBay bs. Support your local homebrew shop. Pay a little more but your gonna have quality service and a real person there to help u in a crunch. Well put in your comment. Cheers
first the amazon ones are cheap and suck. second thing is...chip, 10brix? looks like 9 on the video...lol im sure it has something to do with how the light was trying to get the picture, but still funny
The refractometer is not food safe. I cringed when they were letting wort drip off the meter and back into the pot. Prob the same people who dip their ph meter directly into their mash. Lol
Hi... is your concern one of chemical contaminant or bacteria? I assume chemical since the mash will boil. Or was it actually dripping into the wort post boil?
I used your video in my Physics class today. We are studying reflection and refraction so I was looking for examples of practical uses of Snell’s Law in industry. A 30% sugar/water solution has an index of refraction of roughly 1.38 compared to a 80% solution with index of 1.49. Thus the greater the amount of sugar in the water will cause the blue light to bend more and thus display higher on the scale-unfortunately class snowballed from there and we ended up spending most of class talking about different styles of beer and couldn’t get back on topic. Too bad really, last semester’s went so well when I used Archimedes principle to explain the hydrometer.
Just used this puppy in our Blanchard grinder coolant at the job
What kind of sorcery is this?
Thank you❤️😃
Fans from Sri Lanka ❤️😃🇱🇰
No one cares
used this video for my coursework. quite helpful
rsg-32atc -> calibrated and numbers are sharp but the gravity line is blurred, shades from clear to deeper blue.
Chip Makes Every Video better
so by getting the SG of liquid using refractometer, we can also determine the density of liquids as per computation right??
Sorry, I'm not sure I follow but do want to help if I can.
What other substances can the refractometer be used for? Looks like a very interesting tool.
liquid cocks
can it be used for milk?
Is it viable for Kombucha?
That's a question I've never been asked but I'd assume it works for starting gravity for sure. Finishing gravity -- as you likely know -- is often difficult to tell via refractometer unless you use one of the many conversion calculators available online. But it's doing the same thing it does with beer, wine, mead, and that is reading the specific gravity or BRIX of a sugar-water solution. I'll ask our CS folks to make sure, but I'm pretty sure you can use it for any sugar-to-alcohol solution.
Okay, so that's why I am not getting a good read. I just got a refractometer and i need first and last reads to determine SG. But I should be able to tell alch content with last read?
Unfortunately it's not quite that simple. Once wort begins to ferment, the alcohol in solution skews the reading. Only the original reading can be taken as-is. After that you need to run the reading through a refractometer calculator/converter. There is one on our website to help with this: www.northernbrewer.com/pages/refractometer-calculator But using this tool should help you figure out what ABV of your beverage is.
They sell the exact same thing on Amazon for about half what northern brewer has them.
10$ on AliExpress
Are they both made in China?
Everything is made in china
Also, I still have that refractometer and it works perfect after all these years
Nice job, Chip
I usually brew my wine to as close as 990 as I can. However the refractometer only go to 1000 as far as I can see? Can anyone please clarify? My conclusion is it won't work for me but maybe I'm missing something?
There are hydrometers that display sub-1.000 into the 0.990 range. Perhaps that is better suited for your specific FG goal?
hi sir, I have a question… I want to buy one of this with Brix and SG wort scale… funny thing, I see two kind of correspondence between scales… at 30 Brix is approx 1130 SG worth and another scale is 31 Brix is 1120 SG… what is wrong?
They are good, but I find you really need to mix your wort after the mash/sparge to get an accurate pre-boil gravity. Also note that if it reads in Brix & SG, I would ignore the SG as it's not accurate. It's been added purely as a guide. And with the Brix reading, it needs to be converted to Plato. I also wouldn't trust the alcohol calculators online either 😂 but apart from that...
Can you use a Milwakee Instuments Digital refractometer? I have one that I use to measure salinity for my aquarium.
its been 10 years
I guess that’s a no 😂
Buon giorno vorrei sapere come va una taratura
Can you provide the calculation or formulas on your website (in addition to the calc tool)? They are very handy tools, but understanding the algebra is something I'd like to know, and cannot find any references elsewhere. Thanks!
I'll look into this with our customer service and/or brew master crews.
Sorry, I am confused what is Gravity?
Gravity refers to the amount of sugar in solution and is a way to track fermentation based on constant drop in gravity and the eventually steadying of a final gravity.
This article might help as well: www.northernbrewer.com/blogs/beer-recipes-ingredients/final-gravity
Great video thanks
I think I'll stick to my hydrometers, refractometers seem pretty limited.
Good video as usual!
What price
Here because i want one for my reef tank, but i also make mead! Win win!
Thanks for the video. My new refractometer does not change in response to distilled water and then sugar-saturated water. I don't know if I am doing anything wrong. Any ideas? Thanks in advance.
Does the DH2O read zero? it should...
I've been using a hydro I purchased at my LHBS (for those of you who care).
A refractometer seems appealing as it uses a much smaller sample and less wort is wasted. However, for some slow working yeast strains I may take several SG samples. If these don't work as well once fermentation is underway, I'm not seeing the value over my hydro.
Can someone please elaborate?
so a refractometer measures gravity
the name refracto, shouldn't be measuring refraction or something logically related?
so after you take your first gravity reading of the unfermented wort, when do you take your second reading to get the specific gravity for the measurement of ABV? ta
You cannot use a refractometer to measure any solution with alcohol as alcohol has a different refractive index than sugar. You need to use a hydrometer for the readings during and after fermentation.
ok thanks..............
Using a hydrometer the second time would make sense, in that it would tell you what the exact gravity without having to calibrate for the alcohol content.
So basically the refractometer is not so handy since you still need to waste a bunch of your brew on testing with a hydrometer after fermentation starts.
Guess the calculator was inaccurate and that's why you removed it from your website? And why not have the option to put in gravity before and after fermentation with a refractometer instead of just brix?
www.northernbrewer.com/pages/refractometer-calculator
you should mention that the SG scale on these is not accurate. You did mention that its an estimate though but were not clear on the inaccuracy of the printed scale.
can this be used in testing salinity?
Absolutely! Most marine aquarium aquarium keepers like myself use one , far better than a hydrometer
Here because i want to learn to make maple syrup :)
We know a few people who make their own in the Twin Cities area. Perhaps this coming maple season we can document that process. To isn't a how-to for home makers, but you might find this video interesting from a farm scale of production: ua-cam.com/video/51vhlErZSU4/v-deo.html
does this need battery? what kind if so? thank you
Mine does not.
I measured my kombucha sample in a first day of brewing and refractometer showed 7 BRIX so that means my kombucha had 7% of sugar in it. After a few weeks of brewing I measured my kombucha again and refractometer showed me 11 BRIX!
Is there any way to measure real suger content in my kombucha now with refractometer?
I'm also looking to use a refractometer for this purpose, any luck?
That may be true. But Amazon doesn't make helpful how-to videos for you, or have helpful people happy to answer your brewing questions. And when you drop your yeast all over the floor and need a new batch *now*, instead of tomorrow...
Support your local brewshop.
How come 15 Brix don't align to 1.061. My scale is wrong too.
Gary Blake Temperature correction ?
Opie uses it!
@mmpantsless13 right on. Need more people like you in the world. We need to cut out this amazon and eBay bs. Support your local homebrew shop. Pay a little more but your gonna have quality service and a real person there to help u in a crunch. Well put in your comment. Cheers
Hah I agree it's 9, but at least he put 9 in on the calculator at 2:20 :)
first the amazon ones are cheap and suck. second thing is...chip, 10brix? looks like 9 on the video...lol im sure it has something to do with how the light was trying to get the picture, but still funny
Looks like 10 to me. Your eyes not working?
The refractometer is not food safe. I cringed when they were letting wort drip off the meter and back into the pot. Prob the same people who dip their ph meter directly into their mash. Lol
Hi... is your concern one of chemical contaminant or bacteria? I assume chemical since the mash will boil. Or was it actually dripping into the wort post boil?
Jamal ismaili