Refractometer Beer FG Corrector (Novotny Quadratic Method)

[Silver_Is_Money]

A free spreadsheet which corrects for the inherent large error in Refractometer derived beer final gravity (I.E., corrects for SG as FG) via utilizing the Novotny Quadratic method. Also computes ABW and ABV using the Novotny method, and lastly computes Apparent Attenuation (AA).

Download at the Google Drive link seen below (by pressing the "down arrow" seen next to the printer icon in the upper right hand corner) and then launch and run in Excel or LibreOffice Calc.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/128gF-u11i4dXYTJQTs29ghv4Zq9NM2a7/view?usp=sharing

 

[IslandLizard]

Brilliant, nice, simple, and clean!

If anything, for those who read their refractometer in SG units (I do) would it be possible to do the SG entries directly, instead of converting first to Brix?

 

[Silver_Is_Money]

Brilliant, nice, simple, and clean!

If anything, for those who read their refractometer in SG units (I do) would it be possible to do the SG entries directly, instead of converting first to Brix?

I'm a bit confused. Doesn't your refractometer have a Brix scale?

 

[dmtaylor]

Brilliant, nice, simple, and clean!

If anything, for those who read their refractometer in SG units (I do) would it be possible to do the SG entries directly, instead of converting first to Brix?

Yeah that's bassackwards. I know people do this but rule number one with a refractometer is to read only in Brix because the SG scale is notoriously inaccurate. A refractometer is not capable of discerning gravity but only percent sugar which is Brix. A calculator/formula with Wort Correction Factor is necessary to get an accurate SG out of it.

 

[Silver_Is_Money]

@IslandLizard, please give this one a spin. I have made two tabs/sheets. One is labeled "Standard" and the other is (for lack of better terminology) labeled "Reversed". Please let me know if the 'Reversed' tab/sheet accomplishes what you asked for correctly.

Download at the Google Drive link seen below (by pressing the "down arrow" seen next to the printer icon in the upper right hand corner) and then launch and run in Excel or LibreOffice Calc.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/128gF-u11i4dXYTJQTs29ghv4Zq9NM2a7/view?usp=sharing

 

[IslandLizard]

I'm a bit confused. Doesn't your refractometer have a Brix scale?

Yes, it has a Brix scale, but I rarely use it, I find using SG much easier.

Yeah that's bassackwards. I know people do this but rule number one with a refractometer is to read only in Brix because the SG scale is notoriously inaccurate. A refractometer is not capable of discerning gravity but only percent sugar which is Brix. A calculator/formula with Wort Correction Factor is necessary to get an accurate SG out of it.

Of course it's backward, fair enough, but the scales are related. For everyday beer work I find the SG scale so much easier. All my notes are in SG, and I'm willing to bet I'm not the exception.

 

[IslandLizard]

@IslandLizard, please give this one a spin. I have made two tabs/sheets. One is labeled "Standard" and the other is (for lack of better terminology) labeled "Reversed". Please let me know if the 'Reversed' tab/sheet accomplishes what you asked for correctly.

Download at the Google Drive link seen below (by pressing the "down arrow" seen next to the printer icon in the upper right hand corner) and then launch and run in Excel or LibreOffice Calc.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_OwXBFyz7XtZb0un7UPA7PBhe1u5G607/view?usp=sharing

Thank you for the reversed calculator! You made my day!

Seems to work as intended.
It's really so much easier for me (and others?) to just enter SG values as read from the refractometer directly.
In that light, are the input "SG" values then corrected, inside the calculator, to their real Brix values? Looks like that's what's happening, but not sure.

2 (hopefully) small revisions for the reversed calc:

• Can you get the Brix output to read out in 3 decimals?
• And for some reason, the Apparent Attenuation field doesn't compute, remains at 0.00%

Again, this calculator is very helpful! And I always love your minimalist designs.

 

[Silver_Is_Money]

Thank you for the reversed calculator! You made my day!

Seems to work as intended.
It's really so much easier for me (and others?) to just enter SG values as read from the refractometer directly.
In that light, are the input "SG" values then corrected, inside the calculator, to their real Brix values? Looks like that's what's happening, but not sure.

2 (hopefully) small revisions for the reversed calc:

• Can you get the Brix output to read out in 3 decimals?
• And for some reason, the Apparent Attenuation field doesn't compute, remains at 0.00%

Again, this calculator is very helpful! And I always love your minimalist designs.

Final version link below with the above requests satisfied (plus links to earlier versions above corrected to point to this link):

https://drive.google.com/file/d/128gF-u11i4dXYTJQTs29ghv4Zq9NM2a7/view?usp=sharing

 

[IslandLizard]

Final version link below with the above requests satisfied (plus links to earlier versions above corrected to point to this link):

https://drive.google.com/file/d/128gF-u11i4dXYTJQTs29ghv4Zq9NM2a7/view?usp=sharing

Excellent, works flawlessly. Thank you for the updates!