Refractor Question

[jefftravis17]

Question about using a refractor for the entire brewing process, instead of going to a hydrometer when fermentation begins. Is my process correct here for establishing FG and ABV. My refractor presents both Grav and Brix, and I have done the necessary distilled water calibrations.

1) note the listed OG on the refractor immediately prior to pitching my yeast- this due to no presence of alcohol will give me a true gravity reading;
2) taking measurements at any time during fermentation up to bottling, take the Brix reading and enter this value along with the OG value (which came from the refractor reading) and input into BeerSmith. This will provide the corrected gravity at that point;
3) Subtracting the corrected FG from the refractor measured OG and multiplying by 131 will provide me with a close approximation to ABV.

Yes? No? Thanks

 

[brock_gonad]

I function entirely on Brix now. There's lot of people here that will tell you the standard story that refractometers are useless once fermentation begins, but I disagree with that.

In my experience the many available calculators that correct for refractometer readings of fermented beer work perfectly well. My personal favourite is the great work done by serious math nerd Sean Terrill

http://seanterrill.com/2012/01/06/refractometer-calculator/

Take your OG in Brix, then monitor your fermentation. I take my FG reading in Brix also, then use the above calculator to get my ABV.

In my real world experience comparing to hydrometer, it's so close as to be within range of measurement error and as accurate as any homebrewer likely needs.