There are two scales for measuring density (sugar content) in liquids: Brix and Gravity. Basically, they are the same thing, but in different units, 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 fermenting the beer and determine its gravity in Brix. The border between the white box and the blue box clearly shows the current result.

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

Initial Density Calculator from Brix to Gravity

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

Calculator from Brix to Gravity during and after fermentation

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

Calculator of Alcohol Content in% and Initial Gravity in Gravity

Enter the Current Brix (the final density in Brix - what the refractometer shows you now) and the Current Gravity (the actual final density in the Gravity, what you calculated in step 2). Press Calculate and the calculator will show ABV (Final alcohol content of your beer in%) and Original Gravity (Initial gravity in Gravity).

Food prepared with your own hands is tastier and healthier than the one bought in the retail network. This applies to drinks, canned food and others.

Home brew

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

Brewing equipment

For self-brewing beer you will need:

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

Brewing Ingredients

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

• malt;
• hop;
• Brewer's yeast.

And, on top of all the ingredients, it takes a lot of patience. Although you can make your own malt, it is best to purchase it from the store whenever possible.

Brewer's laboratory

In order for the yeast (and this is a living organism) to sprout well, sterile conditions are necessary. Therefore, it is necessary to create sterile conditions using laboratory glassware. Hoses and bottle cleaners will be needed. Glass vials, flasks, round bottom flask holders are required. Brewer's laboratory may be replenished with necessary items in our store.

Homemade moonshine - a pleasant meeting

To distill moonshine at home, you must purchase moonshine still such as in our store. All kinds of devices are presented in the store. Here there are devices with two and one steam bath, copper devices. They also have different volumes.

Items for making wine and canning

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

For canning in jars, it is necessary to have autoclaves with heating elements on the farm. Autoclave ten will allow you to effectively process jars when cooking and canning at home berries, meat, vegetables and other products.

Brewed beer, wine, other drinks and products at home 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 on the first request, help with the choice ingredients for brewing, complete your purchase and deliver the purchased items.

A refractometer is a great tool that allows the brewer to determine the gravity of the wort from 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 lands on the lens surface, and the transparent plate is pressed from above, evenly distributing the liquid throughout the lens. Then the refractometer rises to the light source and you look into 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, which 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 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 are temperature dependent. Some models support ATC - Automatic Temperature Correction, and have varying degrees of success. I allow my samples to cool to below 40 ° C before using them to avoid scalding.
• Cheap refractometers are not always consistent. I took 5 measurements of one wort, and only then I calculated the average value. The difference was +/- 10%, between measurements! What a 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, as 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 in a sugar / water solution. However, wort has different gravity and contains more complex sugars, which changes the refractive index. Any wort measurements with a refractometer should be corrected with "wort correction factor"... For the homebrewer, the wort correction factor is a specific tool that must be determined accurately when measuring wort samples.

We have a complete guide, including measurement spreadsheets, to help you determine your wort correction factor.

To clear up the confusion in terminology, we decided to call the measurement of Brix wort a refractometer: Brix Wort Index (Wort Refractive Index). Only after dividing Brix IPS by the wort correction factor we will calculate the actual value in Brix / Plateau. Keep in mind that Brix and Plateau are practically the same, and differ by 3 decimal places, so the resulting value can be considered as Plateau (° P).

Refractometers and alcohol:

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

CP = 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 to find the wort correction factor for your refractometer.