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alikocho
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Joined: Fri Feb 04, 2011 8:31 am

Re: gravities

Post by alikocho »

mrlard wrote:
Capn Ahab wrote:I've got an atc refractometer that reads both brix and sg - no conversion necessary. Best off looking for one o they.

what do you make of the ATC refac?
Mine's alright, and useful for quick measurements before and during the boil (and particualrly while sparging). I use a hydrometer post boil and after feremntation, mainly because HMRC need me to use something has a calibration certificate and which I can't tamper with.

Stratification is defintely an issue, though and probably the cause of the error in reading. My sight glass shows the stratification rather nicely in my kettle, with the top layer generally appearing to be almost clear. I can pull a sample from the top and bottom of the kettle pre-boil and they will be off. Generally, I find that they are off by about the same margin, each way (i.e. I expect 1.040, but I get a 1.020 reading from the top and a 1.060 reading from the bottom. Once I hit the boil, the convection in the kettle leads to consistent enough mixing, so I check again immediately after the boil starts. I generally check again about 30 minutes into the boil to be sure if I am getting the boil-off I want or if I need to adjust it (e.g. by shutting off an element, covering, shortening/lengthening the boil and making hop adjustments accordingly etc).
Ali

BJCP National Judge
BJCP Assistant Regional Director (North-East/Europe)
American Homebrewers' Association International Subcommittee
Organizer, National Homebrew Competition
CBA UK Competition and Training Coordinator

http://serenbrewing.com
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