Determination of alcohol in beer using a refractometer. Great store, knowledgeable salespeople

There are two scales for measuring density (sugar content) in liquid: Brix and Gravity. Essentially, this is the same thing, but in different units of measurement, like temperature in Celsius and Fahrenheit. In Russia, Hydrometers, which measure in Brix units, are more popular; in Europe and the world, Hydrometers, where the unit of measurement is Gravity, are more popular.

How to take readings

The initial gravity is measured very simply, you simply drop 1-2 drops of wort onto the Refractometer before putting the beer on fermentation and determine its density in Brix. The border between the white and blue fields clearly shows the current result.

The final density is a little more complicated. When the liquid already contains alcohol, the refractometer gives distorted readings, but there is a special calculator that allows you to determine the exact final gravity of your beer. It also helps to calculate the final alcohol content.

Initial density calculator from Brix to Gravity

Using this calculator, you can convert readings from Brix to Gravity: insert the Measured Brix number, click Calculate and the calculator will calculate this indicator in Gravity.

Calculator from Brix to Gravity during and after fermentation

Enter Original Brix (Initial Brix - what the refractometer showed you at the very beginning) and Current Brix (Final Brix - what the refractometer shows you now). Click Calculate and the calculator calculates Current Gravity.

Alcohol Content in % and Initial Gravity Calculator in Gravity

Enter Current Brix (Final density in Brix - what the refractometer shows you now) and Current Gravity (Real final density in Gravity, what you calculated in step 2). Click Calculate and the calculator will show ABV (Final Alcohol Content of your beer in %) and Original Gravity (Initial Gravity).

Food prepared with your own hands is tastier and healthier than food bought at trading network. This applies to drinks canned food and others.

Homemade beer

The history of beer consumption begins with ancient Egypt. Nowadays beer has become one of the main low alcohol drinks. But this drink for sale in stores is made using an accelerated procedure from concentrate. In order to extend its shelf life, preservatives are added to beer to kill the taste. If beer is your favorite product, then you can spend some time and other resources to prepare it at home.

Brewing equipment

To make your own beer you will need:

• an enameled or stainless steel pan with a capacity of 30-50 liters;
• a chiller or, more simply, a coil necessary for cooling beer;
• a container with a water seal of appropriate volume for the fermentation process;
• thermometer;
• mill for grinding barley or rye malt;
• accurate scales.

Brewing Ingredients

To make beer at home, you need the following ingredients:

• malt;
• hop;
• Brewer's yeast.

And, in addition to all the ingredients, it requires a lot of patience. Although you can prepare malt yourself, if possible it is better to purchase it at the store.

Brewer's laboratory

In order for yeast (which is a living organism) to germinate well, sterile conditions are necessary. Therefore, it is necessary to create sterile conditions using laboratory glassware. You will need hoses and brushes for washing bottles. Glass test tubes, flasks, stands for flasks with a round bottom are required. Brewer's laboratory can be replenished with necessary items in our store.

Homemade moonshine - a pleasant meeting

To distill moonshine at home, you need to purchase moonshine stills , for example, in our store. The store offers all kinds of devices. Here are devices with two and one steam chamber, copper devices. They also have different volumes.

Items for making wine and canning

To make wine you will need oak barrels different capacities. All products are made from oak that has been dried. There are barrels with a capacity from three to twenty-five liters. Our barrels will allow you to age wine in them, which will have a delicate taste. It will be stored in them for a long time.

For canning in jars, the household must have autoclaves with heating elements. Autoclave heating element will allow you to effectively process jars when preparing and canning berries, meat, vegetables, and other products at home.

Home-prepared beer, wine, and other drinks and products are always of excellent quality

This preparation requires patience. In addition, you will need brewing equipment, other items that can be purchased from us. Our managers are ready to advise upon your first request and help with the choice brewing ingredients, complete the purchase and deliver the purchased items.

A refractometer is a great tool that allows a brewer to determine the gravity of their wort with just one drop. You will not need to spend 150-200 ml each time. wort, as is done when measuring with a hydrometer. A drop of wort falls onto the surface of the lens, and a transparent plate is pressed on top, distributing the liquid evenly throughout the lens. The refractometer is then raised up to the light source and you look through it, like a telescope.

The photo shows the cheapest refractometer for $40 made in China. With it you get what you pay for. But there are also expensive digital refractometers that more accurately determine and display their readings on the dial.

• The refractometer must be calibrated to zero in water. Calibration may be required before each use.
• Ignore the specific gravity (SG) scale if your model has one - just pay attention to the Brix scale. The relationship between Brix and specific gravity is not linear!
• Like hydrometers, refractometer readings depend on temperature. Some models support ATC - automatic temperature correction, and have varying degrees of success in this. I allow my samples to cool to below 40°C before using them to avoid getting burned.
• Cheap refractometers are not always consistent in their measurements. I took 5 measurements of one wort, and only then calculated the average value. The difference was +/- 10% between measurements! Well, here's the catch. You get what you pay for and this device was a gift to me.

Refractometers and wort:

The convenience of refractometers depends on the price, since the design of refractometers is not so simple when it comes to measuring wort.

Refractometers measure the angle of refraction of light as it passes through a solution. They are usually calibrated using a solution of sugar and water. However, the wort has different densities and contains more complex sugars, which changes the refractive index. Any refractometer measurements of wort must be corrected using "wort correction factor". For the home brewer, the wort correction factor is a specific tool that must be determined accurately when measuring wort samples.

We have a complete guide, including spreadsheets for entering measurements that will help you determine your wort correction factor.

To clear up any confusion in terminology, we have decided to call the wort Brix measurement a refractometer: Brix IRA (wort refractive index). Only after dividing Brix IPA by the wort correction factor we will calculate the actual value in Brix/Plateau. Keep in mind that Brix and Plateau are essentially the same, and differ by 3 decimal places, so the resulting value can be considered Plateau (°P).

Refractometers and alcohol:

In the presence of alcohol, accurate refractometer measurements are even more difficult to obtain. Alcohol changes refraction even more strongly. The good news is that this can be corrected if the initial density (ID) is known. The following equation has been identified regarding this issue.

KP = 1.0000 - 0.0044993*RI i + 0.011774*RI f + 0.00027581*RI i ² - 0.0012717*RI f ² - 0.0000072800*RI i ³ + 0.000063293*RI f ³

Application of refractometer measurements on our website:

Using our software will greatly facilitate the use of the refractometer.

• See our online refractometer calculator.
• We have a complete guide with a table for finding your refractometer's wort correction factor.