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Electronic pH meter

Post #1 made 12 years ago
by thughes
Just picked up a pH meter from Austin Home Brew Supply (the price was right) so now I can check my mash pH. Although I've never worried about pH before, get good conversion, and my beer tastes excellent, I've always wondered if it could be "better". I tried the paper strips but discerning the shades of color between 5.0 and 5.4 was beyond the ability of my old eyeballs. :dunno:

So, now I get to measure my mash pH accurately! :thumbs:



(At least until PP shows up and tells me that pH meters are just as useless as refractometers)
WWBBD?
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Post #2 made 12 years ago
by PistolPatch
:lol: :lol: :lol:

I grabbed one too last month Todd when my pH roll finally ran out. I think you just have to re-calibrate them every now and then. I also think the probe has a limited lifetime but I can't remember what that is.

The one I have has got automatic temp control. I have no idea on how good that is. Fingers crossed!

I am making sure I don't store it anywhere near my refractometer.

:P
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Post #3 made 12 years ago
by BrickBrewHaus
I enjoy using my pH meter because I like the sciency part of brewing. Its not for everyone and that's fine. Hopefully you find it improves your beer. Actually it will only help "improve" your beer if there was a problem to begin with. In that case its just another tool to help you pin down another aspect of brewing.

If you've never used a pH meter before, make sure you read up on how to properly use them. I'll add to what PP said about calibration...they should be calibrated at the start of every brew day. Once calibrated for the day, they're good to use over and over for that day. You might find that there isn't much change between uses (e.g., from one day to another). In that case you could get away without calibrating it, but I'd only do that if you just wanna quickly check pH of fermented beer or something, I would always calibrate before measure mash pH. But don't let calibration deter you from using a pH meter. Its really simple. I purposefully bought a manually calibrated meter because it knocked a few dollars off the price. Even manual calibration takes only a minute or two, literally.

Regarding electrode lifetime...Supposedly they can last quite a while if used properly. Never put the electrode in hot wort, cool samples to 25C. It stresses the electrode plus is bad practice since pH is dependent upon temperature. Always store it in proper storage solution. With those two things you should be able to keep your electrodes for quite a while.
Last edited by BrickBrewHaus on 23 May 2012, 10:27, edited 3 times in total.
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