Being a Newbie, I have thousands of questions.

Right now my question is about measuring sugar.

I understand SG, how to use a Hydrometer, and how to calculate ABV.

I also understand the BRIX to SG relationships. Brix=261.3*(1 - 1/
sg),

But degrees Brix and SG seem to accomplish much the same tasks. They
both seem to be methods for measuring sugar in suspension in liquid.
And from this, you can calculate several things, and you can time
various winemaking steps.

As a new winemaker, my instinct says to learn to both methods of
measurement and both scales, but to be honest, i don't know why. While
a hydrometer reads SG and a refractometer reads degrees Brix, to me,
they are both indicators of the same thing.

So, what method should i use?

Wayne Harris > wrote:
> Being a Newbie, I have thousands of questions.
>
> Right now my question is about measuring sugar.
>
> I understand SG, how to use a Hydrometer, and how to calculate ABV.
>
> I also understand the BRIX to SG relationships.
> Brix=261.3*(1 - 1/sg),
>
>....
>
> So, what method should i use?

I don't know which method you should use. I do know
that I make Mead and need to know the Brix of various
ingredients so that I can estimate OG which I measure
with a hydrometer.

One day digital hydrometers will be available so
inexpensively that there will be a hydrometer on
every fermenter.

Dick

FWIW: I use a refractometer in the vineyard to get a reading of sugars.
At harvest, I use both a refractometer and a hydrometer and adjust both
for temperature. If there is much discrepancy I do it all over again
and try to figure out why. From then on, I use only the hydrometer.


On 2008-01-30 17:21:05 -0800, Wayne Harris > said:

> Being a Newbie, I have thousands of questions.
>
> Right now my question is about measuring sugar.
>
> I understand SG, how to use a Hydrometer, and how to calculate ABV.
>
> I also understand the BRIX to SG relationships. Brix=261.3*(1 - 1/
> sg),
>
> But degrees Brix and SG seem to accomplish much the same tasks. They
> both seem to be methods for measuring sugar in suspension in liquid.
> And from this, you can calculate several things, and you can time
> various winemaking steps.
>
> As a new winemaker, my instinct says to learn to both methods of
> measurement and both scales, but to be honest, i don't know why. While
> a hydrometer reads SG and a refractometer reads degrees Brix, to me,
> they are both indicators of the same thing.
>
> So, what method should i use?

On Jan 30, 5:21*pm, Wayne Harris > wrote:
> Being a Newbie, *I have thousands of questions.
>
> Right now my question is about measuring sugar.
>
> I understand SG, how to use a Hydrometer, and how to calculate ABV.
>
> I also understand the BRIX to SG relationships. *Brix=261.3*(1 - 1/
> sg),
>
> But degrees Brix and SG seem to accomplish much the same tasks. They
> both seem to be methods for measuring sugar in suspension in liquid.
> And from this, you can calculate several things, and you can time
> various winemaking steps.
>
> As a new winemaker, *my instinct says to learn to both methods of
> measurement and both scales, but to be honest, i don't know why. While
> a hydrometer reads SG and a refractometer reads degrees Brix, to me,
> they are both indicators of the same thing.
>
> So, what method should i use?

You can use any method you prefer. There are others apart from Brix
and SG, for example, Baume and Oechsle, but they all do pretty much
the same thing. Practically, you might have to translate from one
scale to another at times, but you can use an inexpensive triple scale
hydrometer for that.

One thing though - you can't use the Brix scale on a refractometer
directly to measure the progress of fermentation because alcohol
skewes the values. Use the hydrometer for that purpose.

Pp

On Jan 31, 5:54 pm, pp > wrote:
> On Jan 30, 5:21 pm, Wayne Harris > wrote:
>
>
>
> > Being a Newbie, I have thousands of questions.
>
> > Right now my question is about measuring sugar.
>
> > I understand SG, how to use a Hydrometer, and how to calculate ABV.
>
> > I also understand the BRIX to SG relationships. Brix=261.3*(1 - 1/
> > sg),
>
> > But degrees Brix and SG seem to accomplish much the same tasks. They
> > both seem to be methods for measuring sugar in suspension in liquid.
> > And from this, you can calculate several things, and you can time
> > various winemaking steps.
>
> > As a new winemaker, my instinct says to learn to both methods of
> > measurement and both scales, but to be honest, i don't know why. While
> > a hydrometer reads SG and a refractometer reads degrees Brix, to me,
> > they are both indicators of the same thing.
>
> > So, what method should i use?
>
> You can use any method you prefer. There are others apart from Brix
> and SG, for example, Baume and Oechsle, but they all do pretty much
> the same thing. Practically, you might have to translate from one
> scale to another at times, but you can use an inexpensive triple scale
> hydrometer for that.
>
> One thing though - you can't use the Brix scale on a refractometer
> directly to measure the progress of fermentation because alcohol
> skewes the values. Use the hydrometer for that purpose.
>
> Pp

Unless you are in the UK where triple scale hydrometers made after
1983 seem to feature a different version of PA to anyone elses heh
heh...

"jim" > wrote in message
...
> On Jan 31, 5:54 pm, pp > wrote:
>
> Unless you are in the UK where triple scale hydrometers made after
> 1983 seem to feature a different version of PA to anyone elses heh
> heh...

I think the only change was to the temp standard used for calibration.
I still have the older ones that used 60f as the standard. I think
most of the newer ones use 68f as the standard. The standard used
should be printed on the each hydrometer. Temp compensate and
you should end up with the same numbers.

On Jan 31, 11:18 pm, "frederick ploegman" >
wrote:
> "jim" > wrote in message
>
> ...
>
> > On Jan 31, 5:54 pm, pp > wrote:
>
> > Unless you are in the UK where triple scale hydrometers made after
> > 1983 seem to feature a different version of PA to anyone elses heh
> > heh...
>
> I think the only change was to the temp standard used for calibration.
> I still have the older ones that used 60f as the standard. I think
> most of the newer ones use 68f as the standard. The standard used
> should be printed on the each hydrometer. Temp compensate and
> you should end up with the same numbers.

That is a sensible deduction. However, the hydrometer one I inherited
from my father - which matched the scale commonly used in the US - was
calibrated to the same temperature as my current triple scale which
doesn't match any PA system anyone else seems to use

I am sure you are right in general though Frederick!

Jim

"jim" > wrote in message
...
> On Jan 31, 11:18 pm, "frederick ploegman" >
> wrote:
>> "jim" > wrote in message
>>
>> ...
>>
>> > On Jan 31, 5:54 pm, pp > wrote:
>>
>> > Unless you are in the UK where triple scale hydrometers made after
>> > 1983 seem to feature a different version of PA to anyone elses heh
>> > heh...
>>
>> I think the only change was to the temp standard used for calibration.
>> I still have the older ones that used 60f as the standard. I think
>> most of the newer ones use 68f as the standard. The standard used
>> should be printed on the each hydrometer. Temp compensate and
>> you should end up with the same numbers.
>
> That is a sensible deduction. However, the hydrometer one I inherited
> from my father - which matched the scale commonly used in the US - was
> calibrated to the same temperature as my current triple scale which
> doesn't match any PA system anyone else seems to use
>
> I am sure you are right in general though Frederick!
>
> Jim

Hmmmm...The ones I have also state that they are specifically
designed for use in beer and winemaking. Yours ??

"Wayne Harris" > wrote in message
...
> Being a Newbie, I have thousands of questions.
>
> Right now my question is about measuring sugar.
>
> I understand SG, how to use a Hydrometer, and how to calculate ABV.
>
> I also understand the BRIX to SG relationships. Brix=261.3*(1 - 1/
> sg),
>
> But degrees Brix and SG seem to accomplish much the same tasks. They
> both seem to be methods for measuring sugar in suspension in liquid.
> And from this, you can calculate several things, and you can time
> various winemaking steps.
>
> As a new winemaker, my instinct says to learn to both methods of
> measurement and both scales, but to be honest, i don't know why. While
> a hydrometer reads SG and a refractometer reads degrees Brix, to me,
> they are both indicators of the same thing.
>
> So, what method should i use?

Wayne

Hmmmm. First. Refractometers are the preferred tool of grape
growers and grape buyers when the_only_requirement is to
evaluate the sugar content of grapes. For everything else hydrometers
are used.

As to Brix vs SG, it's not a matter of one or the other but rather
a progression. SG is used to estimate sugars. This estimate of
sugar is then expressed using Brix as the unit of measure. Make
sense ?? Thereafter, _ALL_ calculations are based on this estimate
of sugar. Folks who work mostly with grapes usually prefer to do
their calculations using Brix as their unit of measure while others
often prefer to use SG. It's mostly a matter of choice.

Home winemakers and those who work with non grape wines
mostly prefer to work with mulit-scale hydrometers because most
of the calculations were done for us when they calibrated these
hydrometers. IOW - there is no need to calculate Brix because
there is already a Brix scale on the hydrometer. And there is no
need to calculate PA because there is already a scale for this on
the hydrometer. This makes it all very easy. And it makes it easy
to understand the relationships between these things by simply
cross referencing back and forth between the scales without
having to do all the calculations and then comparing the results.

HTMS

Frederick