OG reading

[Mark Weusten]

I brewed an IPA today and took a OG reading as it was getting pumped into the fermenter. I didnt think it was that accurate. My question is, I could see the chill haze kind of a seperation going on and wondered if this affects the reading. The beer in BS was abv 8.3 and reading was 1.063. I have had no efficiency issues with my grainfather......

[Steve Hinton]

Buy a refractometer ;-)

Seriously though, I take gravity readings from the first runnings, end of the second runnings, preboil and post boil. All that info helps build my brewhouse efficiency profile and probably more importantly, means I can make adjustments on the day if I've missed my numbers along the way. If you wait to take a reading while transferring to the fermenters and you undershot your SG, it's too late to fix it.

[Mark Weusten]

I will take your advice on that one. Out of interest why is a refractometer more accurate than a hydrometer?

[Druid]

It's not more accurate - it's just faster and more convenient as you don't have to wait for the sample jar to drop to a decent temp for a reading and it only requires a few drops of wort.

In fact, a refactor is prob less accurate because the brix markings on the sight are small (4 SG is approx 1 brix) and the line the wort makes against the scale is usually fuzzier than the meniscus against the hydrometer scale.

Despite all that, it's the dogs nuts during your brew day because it's so fast and easy to use. Don't use it once there's alcohol in the fluid though - there's ways around using it that way but then it's not as simple as a hydrometer.

[Peter Smith]

I use mine about 15 times a brewday, funny tho they throw bad readings every so often like 2 at 1.055 then one reading a minute later at 1.035....    I tend to take 2 or three and average them throwing out the outliers

They are very usefull while sparging to see if the preboil gravity = BS estimate, and what the late sparge runoff is, after that I tend not to use to the last 3 mins of the boil just to see where it is etc, 

IMHO a must have $20 aliexpress spend

[Nathan]

As the others have said refrac before yeast and hydro after yeast........So much better to only have to pinch a few drops and not wait for it to chill..

[Cain Harland]

I hate the hydrometer so I found some calculators (like this one) and just do it all with the refractometer. It may not be as accurate but its pretty close. On my last 3 brews FG and ABV by calculation were within about 2 points of what Beer Tools Pro estimated they would be form ingredients and OG reading. Mine has SG and Brix.

[Dene McDonald]

Get one off Aliexpress or ebay and it will only cost you $25 delivered.