Great post. I got one too. lol
That refractometer sure didn’t get very positive reviews. Kind of apprehensive after reading some of those. Usually there’s one or two bad reviews, but that one has quite a few.
All the bad reviews I read were either the SG scale wasn’t accurate or they shipped a brix only refractometer instead. I will only use the brix side, which solves both problems. If brix isn’t accurate I’m sending it back.
I was reading reviews that mainly said things about the order being wrong or the refractometer not coming with a hard case. For $20, its pretty hard to beat. I’ll also send it back if it’s not what was specified.
Good luck, fellas! The only reason I’d want one is for pre-boil gravity readings. Otherwise, I’m fine using a hydrometer for my OG readings.
I don’t know, there are like 7 bad reviews and 23 really good ones. let’s assume the guy selling it has added half the good reviews there are still almost twice as many 5 star reviews as 1 star. Time will tell.
I’m almost positive it’s the same one I have, and I’m pretty pleased with it (bought another @ that price). I check the calibration before each brew day, and since some refractometers are notorious for giving inconsistent readings from a given sample, I take multiple readings from any sample I take. Gotta say, it’s pretty consistent . I love it. But as previously posted, I use it for pre-fermentation readings and a hydrometer for FG.
FWIW - that’s pretty much what I intend to use it for. I also rarely take gravity readings mid-fermentation since I brew smaller batches. I’ll probably be more willing to check on beers every once in a while if I can just take a refractometer sample instead of a full hydro sample. Personally, I’m just looking for another tool in my arsenal rather than a hydrometer replacement.
Fair enough. How small of batches do you brew? One gallon? Small batches are cool, I’ve settled on 4 gallon batches. Three gallons might be even better because turn over is much faster, but sometimes it’s just not enough, especially if I’m taking a lot of growlers to parties.
I’ve bought and been very happy with this exact one. I probably use my 0-40 Brix refractometer more often since that’s what I use for mead but it’s good to have the backup.
Most of my batches net about a case of bottles once you factor in dry hops and so on. Test batches are generally 1 gallon preboil. Meads and such are typically 2 gallons or less. A couple of times a year I will split off a gallon from a batch for extended aging on Brett as well.
Lately I’ve been doing mostly 6 gallon batches split into two three gallon fermenters to experiment with different yeasts. Greater variety of beer for essentially the same effort, and I’m learning more.
Re. refractometers - the one on amazon looks identical to one I picked up last year (for twice the price!), though mine came in a soft case and did not include the adjustment screwdriver. I’ve been very pleased with it. I’ll have to check the gravity scale against the Brix reading using another calculator sometime, but I have had no reason to believe it is inaccurate. The main reason I went to the refractometer is that I was sick of breaking hydrometers - when it was starting to cost more than a new refractometer at $50, I made the plunge and have had no regrets. The adjusted FG calculated by the Beersmith refractometer tool appears to give very reasonable numbers - but this, too, should be checked against the hydrometer - maybe someday when I’m feeling less lazy.
My wife bought me a refractometer for Christmas a few years ago. I dont know where she bought it, but I’m pretty sure its this exact one. It looks pretty much the same as the photo. It works well, but I never really checked the gravity scale. Reading the reviews, it does looks like there may have been some bogus ones sold from somewhere. It looks like several places sell this one. and for ones that are not exactly whats listed, maybe amazon’s listing didnt match what was actually being sold, which has happened to me twice in the past year from amazon. Both times the listings were wrong for what I ordered, Amazon was good at exchanging/refunding. As far as refractometers, I still use my hydrometer for most measuring. Maybe thats why I havent found it to be off.
OK, something funny may in fact be going on with the Brix-SG scale in the dual scale refractometer I have. The side to side scales look good until you hit the 15 Brix range. 15 Brix~1.058 on the refractometer’s scale (with nothing on the plate) - should be closer to 1.061 (0.28% higher). 20 brix~1.078, should be about 1.083 (0.46% higher). 30 Brix~1.117 - should be 1.129 (1% higher). I’ve tended to brew under 1.060 since I’ve had the refractometer, so nothing really jumped out at me that suggested a problem. I did just make a mead that read 30 Brix - and in this range I suppose I will not be able to trust the SG readings. Hopefully the Brix value is at least correct. I did some quick tests on sugar solutions, but now need to explore that a bit further at higher gravity ranges.
Anyone else’s dual scale have similar values?
I’d consider that to be off by 5.3%, etc., but I suppose that’s semantics. 
Well, I just got mine in today and everything looks as advertised. Nice case, and the refractometer seems very sturdy. I’m looking forward to testing it out tomorrow.
My only complaint is that the SG scale is way too small for my crappy eyes to read.
I got mine yesterday and I needed to calibrate it to 0 right off the bat but I think it’ll work well for me so i can check gravities in the boil and out of the mash quickly. Not bad for $22 after shipping.
Me to. all looks well.
+1 on the sg scale being too small to read.
I agree because 1.000 is the baseline, not zero.
[quote]…15 Brix~1.058 on the refractometer’s scale (with nothing on the plate) - should be closer to 1.061 (0.28% higher)…
I’d consider that to be off by 5.3%, etc., but I suppose that’s semantics.
[/quote]
Hmm. I calculated 1.061/1.058 = 1.0028, so I should instead calculate the change as 0.061/0.058 = 1.0517 (~5.2%)?