I helped a buddy figure out his sugar addition last week. He got the juice
from a nearby winery. Two different kinds, and there was a big discrepancy
between the wineries claimed Brix, and what my refractometer measured. One
was 13+ (claimed 15+), the other 16+ (claimed 18+(very poor). Was the winery
fudging the numbers so that it would sell? Any other explanations?
Ken A.

"Ken Anderson" > wrote:
> I helped a buddy figure out his sugar addition last week. He got the juice
> from a nearby winery. Two different kinds, and there was a big discrepancy
> between the wineries claimed Brix, and what my refractometer measured. One
> was 13+ (claimed 15+), the other 16+ (claimed 18+(very poor). Was the
winery
> fudging the numbers so that it would sell? Any other explanations?

Perhaps one or both refractometer's were not calibrated properly for the
temperature of the must?

"Negodki" > wrote in message
...
>
> Perhaps one or both refractometer's were not calibrated properly for the
> temperature of the must?
>
Mine's ATC. Stood in the garage and calibrated at probably 60 ambient. In
any event, I doubt you'd get a difference of 1.5 to 2.0 due to poor
calibration. Could my chintzy refractometer be that inaccurate? Do folks
ever take their refractometers with them to the juicehouse, so as to check
the Brix for themselves?

"Ken Anderson" > wrote in message
. net...
> "Negodki" > wrote in message
> ...
> >
> > Perhaps one or both refractometer's were not calibrated properly for the
> > temperature of the must?
> >
> Mine's ATC. Stood in the garage and calibrated at probably 60 ambient. In
> any event, I doubt you'd get a difference of 1.5 to 2.0 due to poor
> calibration. Could my chintzy refractometer be that inaccurate?

Probably not.

> Do folks
> ever take their refractometers with them to the juicehouse, so as to check
> the Brix for themselves?

Always.

"Ken Anderson" > wrote:

> Mine's ATC. Stood in the garage and calibrated at probably 60 ambient. In
> any event, I doubt you'd get a difference of 1.5 to 2.0 due to poor
> calibration. Could my chintzy refractometer be that inaccurate? Do folks
> ever take their refractometers with them to the juicehouse, so as to check
> the Brix for themselves?

'Twas just a suggestion. In a recent thread, someone complained about an
even larger discrepancy between the refractometer and hydrometer readings,
and (lack of proper) calibration was one of the possibilities cited.

I have no experience with "juicehouses", but I know that by the time I get
my grapes home from the vineyard (about a two hour drive in hot weather),
they are always consistently lower by 2-3º Brix from that claimed by the
grower --- and I know him to be an honest person. I have no explanation for
this, except that I use a cheap hydrometer and he uses a (very expensive)
refractometer.

But why are you buying juice with such a low brix (15-17) in the first
place?

"Negodki" > wrote in message
...
>
> But why are you buying juice with such a low brix (15-17) in the first
> place?
>
This guy had his wife pick it up. Concord and Delaware. I called to get the
numbers. The TA on one of them was 1.15, IIRC. TA on the other was like .90.
Just a crappy year, I guess. I went the juice route 3 years ago, and had bad
numbers then, too. I just went ahead with it, and the wine was undrinkable.
Too acidic and bitey. There's a bunch of it STILL in the basement, er,
winecellar. I know there's a ton of guys that find it convenient to just buy
the juice. For a red wine, it doesn't seem to make sense to buy juice and
not have the skins to ferment on. To each his own, I guess.
Ken A.

I had the exact same experience, 'cept in reverse. Got my juice home
and found it to be 1.8º Brix _higher_ than the vineyard reported.

In my case, perhaps the cold settling/clarifying of the juice in the
tanks caused some settling to occur. Perhaps the sugar drops in the tank
and concentrates. If so, then when they tapped the juice into my vessel,
its sugar content was slightly higher than when first tested. Just an
uneducated guess.

Or it could just be a calibration issue... I don't know. ~2º variance
seems a lot. I'm working with a hydrometer while the vineyard is working
with a refractometer.

-Paul

"Negodki" > wrote in message
...
> "Ken Anderson" > wrote:
>
> > Mine's ATC. Stood in the garage and calibrated at probably 60 ambient.
In
> > any event, I doubt you'd get a difference of 1.5 to 2.0 due to poor
> > calibration. Could my chintzy refractometer be that inaccurate? Do folks
> > ever take their refractometers with them to the juicehouse, so as to
check
> > the Brix for themselves?
>
> 'Twas just a suggestion. In a recent thread, someone complained about an
> even larger discrepancy between the refractometer and hydrometer readings,
> and (lack of proper) calibration was one of the possibilities cited.
>
> I have no experience with "juicehouses", but I know that by the time I get
> my grapes home from the vineyard (about a two hour drive in hot weather),
> they are always consistently lower by 2-3º Brix from that claimed by the
> grower --- and I know him to be an honest person. I have no explanation
for
> this, except that I use a cheap hydrometer and he uses a (very expensive)
> refractometer.
>
> But why are you buying juice with such a low brix (15-17) in the first
> place?
>
>

In article > ,
"Ken Anderson" > wrote:

> "Negodki" > wrote in message
> ...
> >
> > But why are you buying juice with such a low brix (15-17) in the first
> > place?
> >
> This guy had his wife pick it up. Concord and Delaware. I called to get the
> numbers. The TA on one of them was 1.15, IIRC. TA on the other was like .90.
> Just a crappy year, I guess. I went the juice route 3 years ago, and had bad
> numbers then, too. I just went ahead with it, and the wine was undrinkable.
> Too acidic and bitey. There's a bunch of it STILL in the basement, er,
> winecellar. I know there's a ton of guys that find it convenient to just buy
> the juice. For a red wine, it doesn't seem to make sense to buy juice and
> not have the skins to ferment on. To each his own, I guess.
> Ken A.
>
>

You should consider blending your too-acidic wine with one that is
lacking in acid.

--
Greg Cook
http://homepage.mac.com/gregcook/Wine

(remove spamblocker from my email address)