@# Dag-Nabit!!#*$!!

[Chixter]

Routine check. Spray sanitize on hydrometer, shake to remove excess......snap..jingle jingle. These things will break if ya look at them the wrong way. Should be sold in 6 packs.

[still_stirrin]

I have my original from 30 years ago. Must be "operator error"!
ss

[Chixter]

30 years??!! That thing still good?. Also if ya got it 30 years ago it must be better quality than the Chi-Com stuff we get now.

[greggn]

> These things will break if ya look at them the wrong way.


... and now you have a good reason to buy a refractometer.

[dieselduo]

get you a refractometer with ATC

[Chixter]

and now you have a good reason to buy a refractometer.

Done.

[shadylane]

I have my original from 30 years ago. Must be "operator error"
ss

Do tell
And here's the place.
http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... start=5010

[shadylane]

and now you have a good reason to buy a refractometer.

Done.

A refractometer is a great tool, Don't forget, it isn't accurate once fermentation starts and alcohol is present

[Chixter]

A refractometer is a great tool, Don't forget, it isn't accurate once fermentation starts and alcohol is present

I read that here a while ago. So I just bought a hydro to do both, cuz I like to measure FG. No worry, I bought a hydro replacement and a refract. SS is kind of right....I was holding by the stem and shook a bit to aggressively...inertia due to mass and all. Live/Learn.

[greggn]

> A refractometer is a great tool, Don't forget, it isn't accurate once fermentation starts and alcohol is present


Do you not find the conversion calculations to be accurate enough ? I measured OG/FG over many ferments using both a hydrometer and a refractometer and found they tracked closely enough (for personal needs) that I retired the hydrometer.

[bilgriss]

Shake it, but don't break it.

Come to think of it, I don't shake it. Broke too many that way. I always rinse and give it a wipe on the hand towel hanging on the stove.

[der wo]

The problem for me is, that different refractometer calcs give out different results. I searched but I don't find the thread about it again.
And in general it looks not very exact:

[Yummyrum]

and give it a wipe on the hand towel hanging on the stove.

OMG bilgriss .... my OCD is screaming germphobia .... hope you don't periodically dip it in a ferment
Got to be as bad as Salt Bush Bills grubby fingers ....@Salty
Perhaps this is why we have a sudden rise in mysterious infected washes

BTW : I'm still using my original Hydrometer thats over 12 years old ..... Alcomters are another story .... perhaps the use of alcometers happens to coincide with alcohol consumption

[greggn]

>And in general it looks not very exact:

Too large a sample produces that undefined edge ... just enough liquid to create a thin film will result in a distinct reading. Also, the type of light seems to affect the "distinctness" of the reading. Sunlight is best, artificial gives mixed results depending on source.

[Shine0n]

Looks like 1.043-1.044 to me
Just slightly more than 11 brix

[Oldvine Zin]

Looks like 1.043-1.044 to me
Just slightly more than 11 brix

+1
Yup and that's as close as you will get with a non certified hydrometer, my refract works just fine for me.

OVZ

[cob]

Shake it, but don't break it.

Come to think of it, I don't shake it. Broke too many that way. I always rinse and give it a wipe on the hand towel hanging on the stove.

you are not supposed to shake it like your mama's rectal thermometer.

[HDNB]

don't matter how much you shake it.there is always a drop left on the end.

[Oldvine Zin]

or you are playing with it

OVZ

[iwine]

Watch not to go blind. When you shake that !

[bilgriss]

I've found the refractometer to be very accurate for an unfermented wort. Looks like Der Wo might need to adjust focus or (like me) put on an extra set of reading glasses to see the little tick-marks. Post-fermentation it's not quite as spot-on, but if you look up the mathematical correction (or use a calculator) it's pretty close. If you are looking for absolutely exact numbers, you need to use a calibrated hydrometer, but I don't see where perfection of computation helps much at that point.

As for the grubby wipe on the hand towel...... relax. Sanitize before you use it again, if you are so inclined. Remember people make a fantastic product in their sheds with the mice and dirty plywood over their fermenters. We're distilling this stuff, so it's not like homebrewing where you're trying to prevent infections while it rests before drinking. Broken glass is a bigger problem.