Digital Refractometer for Potential Alcohol (% V/V) Analysis in Wine, Must and Juice According To EEC

This Hanna Instruments digital refractometer measures potential alcohol calculated by the EEC official method.

Why it is measured

Several conversions from sugar to potential alcohol are in circulation and they do not agree. Where a figure has to satisfy European wine regulation, the conversion has to be the official one, and an instrument that applies it removes the argument.

Where it is used

• wineries exporting to the EU
• regulated declarations
• grape purchasing contracts
• harvest documentation

How a refractometer works

Light bends by a different amount depending on how much is dissolved in a liquid. A refractometer measures that bend and converts it to a concentration scale. It needs one or two drops, gives an answer in seconds, and has no reagents and nothing to consume.

A digital instrument compensates for temperature automatically, which is the difference that matters: refractive index shifts with temperature enough that an uncompensated reading in a warm room is simply wrong.

Practical note

An official conversion is not a more accurate one; it is the agreed one. Use it where it is required and the general scale elsewhere.

Supplied as one model.