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Goddamn, I break a lot of them!

I think my count was in the double digits before I got a refractometer

Tim Gregory wrote:Goddamn, I break a lot of them!

So lead is the secret ingredient in your beer.

LiverDance wrote:I think my count was in the double digits before I got a refractometer

Yeah, and that's been working out great for us, eh?

**We can't get the damn thing to "make sense". Double checking with a hydrometer (that only I'm allowed to touch, due to Mr. Spilly Hands), has the refractometer way out of whack. And yes, I've calibrated it it on water @ 20C, and measure at 20C, but still can't get it to work out.

Just broke another one yesterday. Think it's time for a refractometer.

I broke my 4th one this year today. Four beers brewed this year, four broken hydrometers. Time to start shopping for a refractometer.

?????? I am ashamed to say it had never occurred to me that a refractometer could as easily measure Finished gravity (or at least sugar content) as Original gravity. Every winemaker I know carries around a refractometer during harvest season, to get the sugar content on the actual grapes, and I've just thought of it as something you do with the grapes. I confess to limited imagination. A work crew on my property loaded a tank containing at least a tonne of water onto a truck last week. Not seeing them do it, I asked them the next morning, how? There were only two of them, and no winch. He said "it was empty". I still didn't get it, so he told me they pumped it. Oh, yeah. Obvious, I guess.

If I'd actually measured the gravity on my last two batches, I'd probably be right there with Tim. As it is, I went through two hydrometers on the previous two batches, then winged it on the last two (one recipe was a repeat of one of those, the other was Nash's - why would I need the gravity? )

So when we do the group buy on refractometers, please count me in!

I think AK71 just ordered one from eBay. I bought the cheapest one I could find, and I'm pretty pleased with it's toughness and accuracy. I too have broken my fair share of hydrometers....

mr x wrote:I think AK71 just ordered one from eBay. I bought the cheapest one I could find, and I'm pretty pleased with it's toughness and accuracy. I too have broken my fair share of hydrometers....

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Can't get much cheaper than that! I think I will order one tonight

I did. Currently waiting delivery. Its been shipped (how long does something take to get to North American from China?)

I saw where this thread was going earlier and intended to point people toward that thread, but its been a busy day.

Oh, I was also cursing this thread earlier. I'm only on my 2nd hydrometer - my first was close to 10 years old, but was never used until I decided to go all-grain and figured I better figure out how to use it. This afternoon (after I read the thread) I was cleaning up/organizing some brewing gear and found a glass thermometer that was DOA (bubbles inside it). I tossed it in a bag to throw it out and somehow dropped it on the floor. I know it was broken already, but didn't want to be sweeping up broken glass too.

I blame you!

My last few orders from Asia took 4 weeks. Canada customs is slow I think.

I ordered a temperature controller off ebay on February 8th, it was marked as shipped from hong Kong on the 10th or 11th, and it arrived in the mail on Thursday (March 3).. so that is 20 days from there to here via air mail. I'm guessing it's customs that made it take that long.

I'll post a thread about the temp regulator once I get it working, if anyone is interested.