I just got my new refractometer in the mail today so after calibrating it I figured I'd try it out on my fermenting RIS that I brewed last weekend. I took a sample and it read 11.2. The OG was 1.100. When I plug these values into the spreadsheet from MoreBeer (http://morebeer.com/public/beer/refractbeer.xls) I get an FG of 1.006. Is that right? This sounds WAYYYY too low.
Could someone with Beersmith or another program that does the correction for you verify that for me? I just can't believe it finished that low. That spreadsheet also shows 1.1 as being something like 25.7 Brix, which I think is high. Another resource I saw says that 1.1 is 23.75 and using that value with 11.2 the spreadsheet gives 1.014 as the gravity. This is still quite a bit lower than I expected. I'll take a proper hydrometer sample later, but for now I'm off to play hockey.
According to Promash you're at 1.01035. I've never trusted the hydrometer readings once fermentation has started. If you find one that matches your hydrometer reading, let me know.
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Hydrometer readings are more accurate than a refractometer during fermentation, even with correction. Each beer density is different, same with wine and mead. I don't use the refractometer past the initial brix reading most of the time.
Yes, I know that the refractometer isn't accurate after fermentation begins. I just got it in the mail today and wanted to try it out.
I've heard from a few people that the conversions were usually accurate to within 1-2 points of their hydrometer samples and I'm curious if that holds true for me. I just went to take a hydrometer sample and remembered that when I grabbed my sample jar this weekend it was cracked so I tossed it. Doh! I guess that will have to wait.
Is this a standard triple scale or a narrow band hydrometer. I generally use several different hydrometers and minimize my use of triple scale in favor of more accurate, limited scale in-series hydrometers.
If I remember right they go:
0.700-0.810 by 0.001 gradations
0.800-0.910 by 0.001 gradations
0.900-1.010 by 0.001 gradations
1.000-1.220 by 0.002 gradations
1.200-1.420 by 0.002 gradations
1.400-1.620 by 0.002 gradations
1.600-1.820 by 0.002 gradations
1.800-2.000 by 0.002 gradations
I use a triple scale to eyeball in the must, then the finer narrow scale to bring it where I want it to be. Used to be able to buy sets like this but not sure if they still sell them this way.
I just have the standard triple scale hydrometer, but I haven't tested the beer with that yet. I'm waiting on a sample tube so I have something to test it in. I've seen some finer grain hydrometers for sale, but I don't think they were quite as narrow band as you're describing. They really go up to 2.0? Wow.
The triple scale works well enough for me, it's mostly just for record keeping and comparisons between batches anyway.
Here's to hoping that the refractometer or conversion is off. At 1.010-1.011 I'm not sure it'll have enough body to support the alcohol and roast. The other benefit of using the hydrometer is getting to taste the sample.
Whew, good news. I got a sample jar in the mail today and took a hydrometer sample. It's at 1.020, which is pretty close to perfect for this beer. The sample tastes good but a bit yeasty, I think it will age out nicely.
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