Weighing it up

[QED]

I’m in the market for some new scales after my old ones took a tumble.
Interested to know what you guys use or recommend for your grain scales and also for your hops and water adjuncts.
Cheers

 

[Agentgonzo]

I use ones like this for hops/water. Lots of identical cheap Chinese ones. I've seen them on a bunch of YouTube video too.

Criacr Digital Pocket Scales, 500g High-Precision Kitchen Scales, Stainless Steel Jewelry Scales with Two Trays, Back-Lit LCD Display, 0.01g Precision, Tare and PCS Features, Batteries Included Criacr Digital Pocket Scales, 500g High-Precision Kitchen Scales, Stainless Steel Jewelry Scales with Two Trays, Back-Lit LCD Display, 0.01g Precision, Tare and PCS Features, Batteries Included : Amazon.co.uk: Home & Kitchen

 

[RoomWithABrew]

Just wondering if you have checked the scales with known weights?
Coins are quite good known small weights. I reckon my cheap scales are not as accurate as I think. Something to test and consider.

 

[Agentgonzo]

No, I haven't. I know they're cheap and probably not that accurate. But nearest degree is plenty for hops, and I don't think you need to be that actuate with water additions

 

[RoomWithABrew]

My fault for checking I suspect. My scales accurate enough for hops but variable with salts. Seems better if I don't tare it prior to adding the salts, but I have to subtract the container weight. It only has 0.1 g increments which I suppose is quite a margin and often jumps from a reading of say 4.3 g to 4.5 with a tiny addition and then I remove some to get back to 4.4 and the amount removed doesn't seem right.
But given that I'm not exactly sure what the water is going in as it can change from the water report I should chillax.

 

[Agentgonzo]

Mine do the same. Jump 0.2 or 0.3g occasionally. But as I said, plenty good enough for hops, and I can honestly tell you that I wouldn't be and to tell a 0.2g difference in salts in 25l of water!

 

[RoomWithABrew]

Mine do the same. Jump 0.2 or 0.3g occasionally. But as I said, plenty good enough for hops, and I can honestly tell you that I wouldn't be and to tell a 0.2g difference in salts in 25l of water!

Depends what the salt was.

NaCN at that rate could be sickening.

 

[Agentgonzo]

Good job that's not one I plan on adding then! I'm not sure style would suit almond flavours

 

[stripeyjoe]

To keep life simple I tend to stick to 1/2 or 1g increments for salts and 1ml for acids/CRS… have also noticed my cheap scales are not that good at detecting if you add lots of very small amounts, better to go for 1/4-1/2 tea spoon amounts.

 

[The Baron]

I us normal kitchen scales for hops and grain but if doing water additions I have a small digital scale for weighing gold/silver etc or commonly known as "drug dealer" scales they are only a few quid on Fleabay etc

 

[bobukbrewer]

balance scales for me- half a gram easily measurable - my weights are lengths of stainless steel wire...........

 

[Sadfield]

I’m in the market for some new scales after my old ones took a tumble.
Interested to know what you guys use or recommend for your grain scales and also for your hops and water adjuncts.
Cheers

Scales, thermometers, hydrometers or pH meters. You can produce good beer with pretty cheap inaccurate equipment or you can subscribe to the theory of marginal gains where the accumulation of accuracy from water treatment to yeast pitching leads to incremental gains in quality and consistency. Cheap measuring equipment does render the time spent on complicated water treatment calculations and brewing software a little redundant. And then there's the old adage 'buy once, buy well', and have gear you can trust.

Pricey, but I picked these up for £50 on ebay, and will do grains up to 2kg and salts down to 0.01g. Calibratable and should last a lifetime.

 

[RoomWithABrew]

@Sadfield

They look like proper scales and calibratable seems appropriate.
Mine are a bit toytown in comparison to yours.

 

[Sadfield]

@Sadfield

They look like proper scales and calibratable seems appropriate.
Mine are a bit toytown in comparison to yours.

The rest of my gear is pots and pans.

 

[marshbrewer]

What @Sadfield said - I am guilty of buying cheap and now facing having to buy twice. I would also advocate having somewhere really stable that you can put the scales on, in the same place, every time. I feel it helps with repeatability especially when measuring out tiny amounts of salfs for water treatment.

They look cracking scales @Sadfield - what make and model are they? edit - ignore that, google has answered - Adam PGL 2002

 

[Nashbrew]

I have these: OXO Good Grips Stainless Steel Electronic Digital Kitchen Scale, Silver, 5kg
Weigh up to 5Kg as well a pull out display for larger bowls etc.

 

[Sadfield]

The Business, Office & Industrial > Test, Measurement & Inspection catagory on ebay, is a good place to regularly check for scales and food hygiene thermometers from business liquidations, etc. Some bargains if you are patient.

 

[Druncan]

I have a 500g x .01g but it can be calibrated easily and I have an OIML M1 class test weight like this; Calibration Weight 500g M1 Precision Chrome Steel for Digital Balance Scales 41814198361 | eBay

Makes sure it's accurate

 

[QED]

Thanks for the comments guys, some very useful info. Liking the Adam scales @Sadfield. Will definitely look for something that can be calibrated.