Re: Tell me why I need a refractometer
Posted: Fri Apr 22, 2016 10:37 pm
I went with the refractometer because I didn't want to "waste" beer every time I took a reading.
But that is actually part two. Part one is that I didn't take any sort of gravity readings at all for at least a year after I started brewing. I actually got pretty good at checking the wort a few days after pitching it and seeing it was becoming cloudy, then after one and two weeks it became clearer. That would be shot glass samples from a Mr. Beer keg. I had one batch that did not become cloudy and stayed sweet for a week and I knew there was something wrong and was able to get the batch fermenting because of my visual and taste check. So not only "why do I need a refractometer" but also "why do I need a hydrometer"? In my case I decided I wanted to have something more concrete than my visual and taste check.
So on one brew I may do nothing more than check the reading post boil. On another I may check the reading during mashing to decide on the mash time. I may do a pre boil check and a post boil check. I can check anytime I want with a few drops of wort.
Now let's be clear. A refractometer is not a hydrometer and a hydrometer is not a refractometer. You can't take a hydrometer out to a vineyard, randomly select some sample grapes and check their sugar content. Any "gravity reading" from a refractometer is a calculation. That calculation is from the Brix reading of the refractometer. My refractometer is not digital but I get the Brix from marked lines. 25% of a point is about as well as I can tell. This usually puts my OG really close to what it is supposed to be. My FG is often lower than brewing software predicts. But that includes a rounded off Brix reading with a calculation to account with the effect of alcohol on the later reading. Well, in the end -- I have only used a refractometer to take measurements, never owned a hydrometer. I can get an OG and tell if my beer has or has not fermented a bit more reliably than a visual and taste test.
Now why does Kealia need a refractometer? I would suggest a new brewer use either a refractometer or hydrometer to better tell what is going on with their beer and past that I'm not sure there's a reason for both.
But that is actually part two. Part one is that I didn't take any sort of gravity readings at all for at least a year after I started brewing. I actually got pretty good at checking the wort a few days after pitching it and seeing it was becoming cloudy, then after one and two weeks it became clearer. That would be shot glass samples from a Mr. Beer keg. I had one batch that did not become cloudy and stayed sweet for a week and I knew there was something wrong and was able to get the batch fermenting because of my visual and taste check. So not only "why do I need a refractometer" but also "why do I need a hydrometer"? In my case I decided I wanted to have something more concrete than my visual and taste check.
So on one brew I may do nothing more than check the reading post boil. On another I may check the reading during mashing to decide on the mash time. I may do a pre boil check and a post boil check. I can check anytime I want with a few drops of wort.
Now let's be clear. A refractometer is not a hydrometer and a hydrometer is not a refractometer. You can't take a hydrometer out to a vineyard, randomly select some sample grapes and check their sugar content. Any "gravity reading" from a refractometer is a calculation. That calculation is from the Brix reading of the refractometer. My refractometer is not digital but I get the Brix from marked lines. 25% of a point is about as well as I can tell. This usually puts my OG really close to what it is supposed to be. My FG is often lower than brewing software predicts. But that includes a rounded off Brix reading with a calculation to account with the effect of alcohol on the later reading. Well, in the end -- I have only used a refractometer to take measurements, never owned a hydrometer. I can get an OG and tell if my beer has or has not fermented a bit more reliably than a visual and taste test.
Now why does Kealia need a refractometer? I would suggest a new brewer use either a refractometer or hydrometer to better tell what is going on with their beer and past that I'm not sure there's a reason for both.