The principle and usage of a sugar meter
Some craft enthusiasts come to inquire about how to use the sugar meter, and even craft enthusiasts who have already brewed it have a limited understanding of measuring sugar. The accurate measurement of sugar content is an important data reference for accurately controlling every node of the brewing process in the future. Today's content will introduce the instruments and processes for measuring sugar content.
Measuring instruments
Common instruments for measuring sugar content include sugar content meters, hydrometers, handheld refractometers, etc.
If we want to understand and use these instruments, we need to first understand the relationship between sugar content and wort concentration.
Wort contains a large amount of sugar, protein, and various vitamins, but sugar accounts for the majority in wort, so the concentration of wort is approximately equal to the sugar content in wort. This is also what I often say about the original wort concentration, which we all consider to be the sugar content of the original wort.
Principle of hydrometer/saccharometer
The principle of a hydrometer is the same as that of a sugar meter, which measures the specific gravity of a specific solution by the height of its floating in the solution. However, the units of the sugar meter and the sugar meter are different.
The estimation formula for units: [(specific gravity -1) * 1000]/4=sugar content
For example, the specific gravity of wort is 1.040, and according to the conversion formula, the sugar content is approximately 10p. The measurement is the relative density, which is the density of the solution relative to water. The specific gravity of water is 1.000, and the reading refers to the density of the liquid at a standard temperature (20 degrees Celsius). Therefore, the reading of the hydrometer should be corrected to the specific gravity at the standard temperature.
Use of hydrometer/saccharometer
Due to the extremely similar use of the two, we use a sugar meter as an example. According to the principle of the sugar meter, we know that the reading of the sugar meter needs to be measured at a standard temperature, so we can use a sugar meter with an attached temperature, which can directly compensate for temperature if it is not at 20 ℃.
The attached temperature sugar meter measurement is a floating ball meter made based on the principle of a liquid density meter. The lower the relative density of the liquid, the deeper the densitometer sinks. The thin rod of the sugar meter is engraved with a mass percentage scale.
