Ho do you measure your water?

Yakima 728
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Helper

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I've been brewing for a few years now and I have always either used a Morebeer! fermentation bucket that has markings on it or 1 gallon water jugs to measure out my water.

In turn, I have always adjusted my strike and sparge water volumes to the integer or other volumetric markings on my bucket just so I can maintain some degree of consistency.

So, how do you measure your water volumes out? Is there some other (more precise) way of doing it or is everyone else just as archaic as I am?

Prost!

Helper
 
I fill the dead space (about .25gal) in my BK then fill my bucket with quarter gal markings to measure my water... I want to add a site glass but thats really taken backseat to my brewstand.... Priorities...
 
masonsjax said:
I electro-etched marks into my kettle, but I prefer to just use a notched wooden dipstick I made.
Click to expand...

I just recently did that myself but haven't brewed since doing it. But it sounds like you don't use yours? Are you not able to see them well? Or just like your stick better??

BK Volume Marks.jpg
 
jbb3 said:
I just recently did that myself but haven't brewed since doing it. But it sounds like you don't use yours? Are you not able to see them well? Or just like your stick better??

View attachment 251095
Click to expand...

Both actually. Between the dark coloring of the oxide on my aluminum kettle, the billowing steam, and not so well lit brew area, the markings are entirely useless in practice. The stick has never failed me in all the years I've used it. I'm a big fan of simplicity.
 
Snicklefritz said:
Wow, I etched my kettle too and mine looks nowhere near as bright as yours came out. Great job!
Click to expand...

Thanks! I tend to overdo everything... Kinda OCD that way...

Funny thing is; You can't tell from the photo, but the line marks are not level. I marked my volume with a strip of tape in the middle where the numbers are and eye-balled the marks on both sides. The marks on the left side are slanted up hill so I can't use them. LUCKILY, the marks on the right seem to be right on so I'll look at them... :smack:
 
I etched my SS kettles with volume markings and when doing so carefully measured.
I quickly discovered that the markings on my plastic pails were way off and since I was using those buckets to measure water volumes for brewing I had to recalibrate them.
 
I have a gallon pitcher that actually has accurate markings to measure strike and sparge water. Once in the kettle I use the sight glass on my Boilermaker.
 
Where did you find the pitcher? I can't find anything that large at any of the big box stores around me.
 
The software I use allows me to find volume by measuring headspace. Gets me pretty close.
 
Thanks I'm going to check it out next time I'm at the store. A lot of people talk about using a wooden dowel but I get nervous using porous materials like that.
 
I use a 1 gallon SunnyD jug I marked off in measured quarts with a measuring cup & permanent marker. Great for measuring mash water where parts of a quart are needed. Great for sparge too, obviously. Cheap & handy.
 
I feel like an educated swag of anything that is within +/- 1/4 gallon is fine for my purposes. My kettle has markings at 2, 4, and 6 gallons. I put marks with a sharpie on my plastic spoon for 6.5 and 7 gallons as well. With those markings I am easily able to get within a quarter gallon of my expected volume and +/-2 points of my expected gravity.
 
When I started brewing, I used the markings on the buckets and cheap kettels I had. I found they were not accurate at all. I then the got one of those 1 gal aluminum measuring cans from Northern Brewer. BTW I hate that FLAT handle, it hurts your hands when it's full. And Oh yea, I never fill to the gallon level, cause it's right at the very top. So I only use 3 quarts at a time. Pretty easy untill you go , 3--6--9--------ahh15, or was that 12??? Ok 15--18 and in the end, ya come up short! So I decided to get some sight glasses. Never thought there was a good reason for them UNTIL, I installed it and calibrated it carefully, then used it. All I do now is , dangle the hose and fill to any amount I want. One of the best brewing tools I have! Not expensive either. When used on the BK, no steam gets in your eyes to see the amounts you started with, and end with.

SIGHT GLASS
 
Depth stick, ruler and a bit of math (could eliminate the latter half but meh, google does math for me). If I wanted to get clever I'd just use a digital scale that can handle the weight of my kettle filled with water (mine caps out at 6lbs or so) since I'm concerned about water volume at room temp anyway which is close to 1g/ml.
 
Etched my kettle (it already had 1 gallon increments marked at the factory). For additions of less than a 1/4 gallon I use a Pyrex measuring jug.


To measure trub loss most of it is in the plate chller. That is easily measured. Fill it and empty. Measure what flows out.

Volume Marks.jpg
 
I turn on the hose and start making breakfast, when the pot looks like it has about 23 gallons in it, I stop. I'm not kidding. After you using a system over and over you get the feel of how much waters is needed to mash. They have been doing it this way for thousands of years.
 
Call me totally OCD and nuts, but I weight my water.

Water weights about 8.33 pounds per gallon or about 2.08 lbs per quarts.

I take my strike water volume calculated by beersmith, convert it to gallons, then multiply by 8.33 @ 70F (Density is dependent on temperature). Then I put a plastic bucket on my grain scale and fill till I get to the weight I need

For example:
Stike Water: 14.5 quarts (3.625 gallons)
3.625 X 8.33 = 30.2 pounds of water.

This method is MUCH more accurate that volume markings on our kettles and plastic bucket fermenters.

Again, this method is complete overkill, but I'm OCD like that :confused:
 
^+1

Weighing the water might seem OCD, but actually it can be easier to do than stare at lines on a vessel, hoping to stop filling at the right moment, and needing to let the vessel sit still and level so you can judge. I tried weighing the volumes on my last batch and I think I've found a new way to do things.

You can use an empty plastic gallon jug with a funnel as your weighing vessel. Or cut off the top part so that it's wide open and doesn't need a funnel.

I was also able to weigh my spent grains (in a bag) and get a reliable absorption rate by subtracting the original grist weight. And I collected and weighed the whole hops used in the batch to determine how much water they soaked up as well. Granted this is overkill and adds time to the brew day, but I was intentionally trying to calibrate these variables for future use.

I used this calculator.
 
I've just been using the markings on my fermenter buckets - until I read this thread!
 
I mark my mash paddle. Simple and I can't see the inside edges of my boil kettle in the winter (with lots of steam, brewing in the garage).
 
Using a weldless sight glass I bought from Brewhardware.com.

DSCN6570-1024x768.jpg


Allows me to measure water as it fills, and then measure different strike and sparge water volumes to the mash tun as it is being pumped out.
 
This thread keeps calling me a ho.

I have a 2 quart pyrex measuring cup. So, 2 quarts at a time. If I break it, I'll replace it for SWMBO, and buy a metal pitcher for the brewery.
 
I also do it the old-fashioned way with graduated markings on a plastic jug, and then measuring cups for smaller amounts.
 
Yeah, I have a 2C Pyrex measure & my 1000mL flask for odd amounts as well as my marked 1G jug. With graduations on my FV's, I get it done well.
 

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