Extech RF18 Brix Refractometer

In the absence of a handheld oscillating tube densitometer costing a few thousand more, this device matches my old school hydrometer to .050 points in accuracy.It works very well.

It was easy to use and did what I expected

I searched and searched looking for upscale instrument and thought this would fit the bill. I thought I was buying an very good quality refractometer judging by the reviews. I did not even bother to try it as it is no better than one for half the price. The package insert says nothing about were it is made, what firm made it, address, email, contact, anything. Save your money. You get the impression you are getting a higher quality instrument, but this is just a chintzy product with a case, like you would get buying a tool at Harbor Freight. Arrive poorly packaged for mailing too. Way over priced. Returning.UPDATE: As I suspected: This is a Chinese knock-off. Below is the link to what you will get. It is NOT an Extech instrument. I have not heard from the seller. This hacks me off. Will ask Amazon for immediate refund.[...]

I was expecting this to actually measure specific gravity, but rather it has two scales both in the Brix system. That said it has been comparable to my hydrometer when taking beer OG and FG. But it is not useful as a way to take a FG alone and calculate ABV. Use the OG, FG numbers and calculate that. As it came out of the box it read 0 from my tap water at room temp, which was a good starting point for me, but it can be adjusted. Comes with a sturdy plastic case, screwdriver for adjusting the unit, non scratching cloth, and plastic pipette.

I purchased this item 5-6 years ago. I use it once a year during grape harvest to take test samples of machine picked grapes and it has been accurate to .1 of a brix on every load that was tested. Taking your crop to a market that requires certain sugar standards in order to pass, this has been a highly valuable instrument and more than pays for itself after one season. Yes, I highly recommend this product, it has been extremely accurate in regards to the more expensive commercial type digital refractometers.

As described.

This instrument has worked well for me for four years. I now rely on it for brix readings rather than the hydrometer, which is dependent on temperature and requires a much larger amount of wine, cider, etc. As for testing grapes for sugar content, it pretty much agrees with what my taste test tells me.