Refractometers & Testing

Guessing where a ferment is up to is how batches go wrong. A refractometer tells you the sugar content of your juice or wort from a couple of drops, which means you can check a batch without pulling a full sample jar and without waiting for a hydrometer to settle. For anyone crushing fruit at vintage or dialling in a brew day, it is the fastest read you can get.

What we stock here is the Portable Refractometer from Kegland, the handheld type you hold up to the light and read off the internal scale. It suits juice and unfermented wort, which is where most people need a number quickly. Once alcohol is present in a batch the reading shifts, so for tracking a ferment to dryness a hydrometer is still the honest tool, and the two work well side by side.

Worth knowing. Let your sample come to room temperature before you read it, and wipe the prism with a soft cloth rather than paper towel. Warm juice straight off the crusher will read differently, and a scratched prism is a refractometer you no longer trust.

For the rest of the testing bench see hydrometers and refractometers, pH meters and strips and alcohol test kits. Bring a sample into Laverton North or Epping and we will show you how to read it.