I loved my refractometer when it worked. For some reason, it started deviating from my hydrometer so I stopped using it.
That seems odd. Perhaps it was defective?
Well, it worked fine for a couple years.
[/quote]What basic calculation do you use for your gravity readings? Years ago I learned this one:
Starting Gravity - Final Gravity X 129 = Alcohol %
For example:
SG: 1.062
FG: 1.010
Alc: 6.708%
Is that how you calculate it? What was your refractometer showing for something like this?
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No, the refractometer doesn't show anything like that. It's just an alternative for taking a gravity reading, not calculating ABV. And once the beer has started fermenting, the alcohol in it skews the refractometer reading so you have to apply a correction factor.
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Gotcha. I'll guess I'll learn all that when I pick one up and read about how to use it.