[gav]

There seems to be some misinformation out on the web. The following 2 web calculators convert 15 Brix to 14.3 Plato and 15.6 Plato respectively, a difference of 6 gravity points.

http://www.homebrewing.com/calculators/?page=tools&section=plato&action=entry
http://braukaiser.com/documents/Kaiser_Brix_Plato_SG_table.pdf

I have always assumed that Brix and Plato were identical within the 0-30 range, as calculated by the beersmith3 refractometer tool if correction factor is set to 1.
I have recently started using a Brix lab hydrometer/thermometer, and have switched my BS3 setup to Plato from SG, because of recent recipes I'm getting from pro brewer friends.

Should I be adjusting these Brix hydrometer readings to convert to Plato before entering values in BS3? And if so, which calculator should I use??

[Robert]

Brix, Plato, and Balling are for all practical purposes identical.   As I understand it, they differ only in the reference temperature at which the original tables were compiled, which may have resulted in (practically insignificant) differences in the way each scale originally corresponded to specific gravity.   But they all express, by definition, percent by weight of sugar in solution.   So they are functionally interchangeable.

[Thirsty_Monk]

Brix is for measuring sucrose and Plato is for measuring Maltose.

I am not that technical verse but adjustment factor is something like 1.04. You are going to have bigger number with Brix then in Plato in the same solution. If you do not use adjustment factor you will think that you got higher extract.

So yes you should use adjustment factor. You should use BrauKaiser table.

[a10t2]

Brix is for measuring sucrose and Plato is for measuring Maltose.

Sorry, but this is incorrect. Both standards use sucrose as the reference solution, and like Robert said, they differ only very slightly, too little to measure for brewing purposes.

If you're using a refractometer to measure gravity, regardless of the units it reads in, you'll need to apply a wort correction factor to account for the difference in refractive index between sucrose and maltose.

[Thirsty_Monk]

Brix is for measuring sucrose and Plato is for measuring Maltose.

Sorry, but this is incorrect. Both standards use sucrose as the reference solution, and like Robert said, they differ only very slightly, too little to measure for brewing purposes.

If you're using a refractometer to measure gravity, regardless of the units it reads in, you'll need to apply a wort correction factor to account for the difference in refractive index between sucrose and maltose.

Ahh. Thank you for pointing me to the right direction.

I have a refractometer in Brix. That is why I always used adjustment factor. I use Plato hydrometer these days.

[cuehappiest]

As far my knowledge is concerned both of them use sucrose as a reference solution.

[Robert]

As far my knowledge is concerned both of them use sucrose as a reference solution.

That is exactly what is indicated in the manuals for the instruments I have, both "Brix" and "Plato."  Therefore no correction should be necessary.