Vinometer

[herbenus]

I'm going to get one of these vinometers. For $5 it's a pretty low risk purchase. I was just wondering if anyone here had tested one of these and what were your results?

 

[AlFulchino]

they are ok to have around, but not the most reliable things..better to trust your sg readings and do the math

 

[Wade E]

Very inaccurate especially with any residual sugar.

 

[Dean]

To me, that is $5 you'll not get back. Spend the $5 on a nice glass of wine instead! Much more enjoyment and usefulness too.

 

[herbenus]

That's about what I had read I guess. I was doing to use it more for those times when I just want a second check. Or when I have such a thick mash of fruit that it' hard to get sg.

 

[grapeman]

You might as well take a dartboard with numbers on it , throw a dart and say that is the abv. It will be just as accurate and a lot more fun.

 

[Wade E]

They only even come close to working when there is no sugar left in it so using it in a mash is totally worthless, basically it has to be used in a wine that has fermented completely dry and all the solids are gone and even then its a crap shoot as to if its going to give you an accurate reading.

 

[Randoneur]

I'll send you mine free if you'll pay the shipping.

 

[cpfan]

I'm going to get one of these vinometers. For $5 it's a pretty low risk purchase. I was just wondering if anyone here had tested one of these and what were your results?

Put a couple more dollars with it and buy a spare hydrometer. Much more useful.


Steve

 

[herbenus]

Well, I was actually not going to use it in the mash. Rather after fermentation, clearing, and before adding any fpack or sugar (in other words dry). But I hear you and will rethink this. If it really worked it would probably be more than $5.

 

[Wade E]

Even in wine that is dry they arent that accurate!

 

[PeterZ]

All liquid chemicals have different refractive indices, so such a device will, in theory, work. However, the rub is in the details. When I was a boyscout we would estimate the height of trees by moving to a point where, when we pointed at the top of the tree our arms were at an estimated 45 degree angle to the ground. We then paced off the distance to the tree to get the height.


In theory, 100% accurate. In practice a given tree could be estimated at 30 to 60 feet tall, depending on who did the estimate.


With $1000 worth of surveying tools I'm sure we could have gotten to within an inch of the actual height. With just a Mark 1 Mod 0 eyeball and a pair of Mark 1 Mod 0 legs, not so close.


I'm sure that with a multi-$1000 lab refractometer a pretty accurate measurement can be made. With a $5 instrument, not so much.