Have been wanting to get an ABV refractometer for a more real time measurements, but have been worried that I might not be able to read it wearing contact lenses. I am in full agreement. Make what you like, call it whatever you want.......it is your recipe. Just enjoy the craft!
Great information! As usual. Thanks particularly for the comment concerning the SG refractometer accuracy. I had noticed that mine was somewhat inaccurate when reading the gravity on my mash toward the end of fermentation and I just thought I had a bad one. My distilling refractometer pretty much matches my distilling hydrometer. Just like you, I use both the hydrometer and the refractometer for both the mash and the distillate just to be sure. Also, for people who don't like using charts to adjust for temperature, you can just stick a test tube of the liquid you're measuring in the refrigerator and take its temperature as needed until it gets down to 60 degrees and then take a reading. Thanks for the videos.
You should have talked about ph meter also. They are fairly cheap and a lot easier to use than litmus paper and trying to match the color to the scale. Just another topic for another video my friend. Keep them coming. And you’re right about the glass ones to always have 2 of each.
Great info, as always. Would like to see some different combinations of grains for bourbons. I just ran a mash bill of 62% Corn 15% Caramel Malt 13% Malted Barley 5% Chocolate Wheat Malt 5% Malted Oats Turned out like a chocolate cake on the backend......waiting for my BadMo barrel to come in so I can fill it up!
I've managed to break 2 alcometers in one stripping run distillation. It happened because I didn't have a parrot at that time, and was taking samples off to test. Luckily I usually have 3 on hand (Murphy's Law). Now I have 5 plus a laboratory grade electronic one that does both SG and ABV / proof (O'Toole's Law), and it was expensive.
