Homebrewing - Beer, Mead, Wine, Cider

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Refractometers (self.homebrewing)

submitted 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) by whaleross to c/[email protected]

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I ordered a cheap chinese optical refractometer from Amazon to use for convenience instead of a traditional hydrometer. It seemed accurate enough after calibration, I don't expect magic or lab results. Ballpark is fine by me.

I got suspicious when my cider and wine have kept stopping at 1.020-1.025 and nothing I whatever I tried would only make them bubble for another few days and reduce a couple of degrees Oe. So I did a reading with my hydrometer to verify. Yep, the SG for the cider ~1.000 and with the wine in negatives.

Checking out the refractometer it says it is for beer.

Is there a difference for wine and beer refractometers? Is is this refractometer, cheap chinese ones in general or is it me?

Cheers

Edit: twas me

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[–] lightnegative 4 points 7 months ago

This is a classic mistake people make to try and measure final gravity with a Refractometer.

As everyone else has said, the alcohol in the solution throws it off.

You need to use a correction calculator or just use it for initial gravity and get a test tube and float your hydrometer in it for final gravity