My 1st pH meter

[thehaze]

Hello folks,

I want to buy a pH meter to use for brewing. I have found a good price for ADWA AD11, which will set me back 46 $ / 40 €.

Now this is only two digits display, meaning it will only show 5.3, 5.5, etc. Would that suffice or should I pay more for a pH meter that shows more digits?

Would this pH meter be OK? Is it too cheap? Do you need to go more expensive for brewing?

Thank you.

 

[yourlastchance89]

Whatever you got should be fine. However I would recommend you get the proper calibration and storage fluids for it as well.

 

[thehaze]

I had in mind pH calubration solution and storage fluid, as it seems they are needed. I can see that pH solutions can be used a few times until needed to be changed, so I will go after bigger bottles.

 

[thehaze]

The pH meter was ordered. I gave 62.5 $ for the pH meter, calibration solutions at pH 4 and 7 and another solution for storage.

Now I am gonna wait for it to come and hopefully next week, I will be putting al those to good use.

Time to finish the recipes and find out salt additions using BrunWater. Excited like hell!

 

[yourlastchance89]

Nice! I probably made every mistake possible when I first got mine. They sell them at my homebrew shop without any storage or calibration fluid, or without any specific instructions on how to use it, so I bought mine thinking it was going to be as easy as sticking it straight in the mash and getting a quick and accurate pH reading. Took it home, did a brew day, and actually researched everything after doing everything wrong. Always calibrate before pulling a real sample, always allow your sample of wort to cool to room temp before doing a reading, never dry store your pH probe, never store the probe in distilled water, always keep the probe in a storage solution when not in use, and I’ve read they are best stored upright when not in use. I broke every single one of those rules my first brew day with my pH meter and the few days leading up till my storage and calibration solution arrived by mail.

 

[Nebraskan]

It also helps to find a pH meter that uses standard reference solutions, 4.01 and 7.00 . Just got mine in today that has digits to 2 places and uses those standards. Now, since I work at a winery in the lab and have pH meter that uses those 2 standards, that is nice.
Yes, use no distilled water for storage. Usually KCl 3M solution is recommended for storage.
Always check your meter against standards and calibrate before you plan to use it for something important. This also counts for expensive meters. I've see a new guy at the winery who has years of experience in pharmaceutical get the wrong reading by now understanding the meter and getting in calibration before checking a wine. Once I calibrated it, I got the right reading.

 

[FunkedOut]

what?!?!?!

storage solution?!?!!!?!

is that why my meter no longer reads 0000 when it’s in air?
I thought it was because it only cost me $10 and was ready to buy a good one.

I was going to get serious and sent a sample of my tap water to ward labs.

 

[thehaze]

I am glad I made this step, as I feel some of my brews have suffered from a little something, I cannot really put my finger on. I hope reading, controlling and adjusting the pH will bring better flavours to my future brews.

 

[seatazzz]

OT, after a couple of homebrews, this would be a good title for a kids book. On the shelf right next to My First Fermentation Chamber and Timmie Goes to the LHBS (whereby Timmie is rescued by Lassie after he gets lost in the yeast refrigerator). All in fun!

 

[SEndorf]

Midwest Supplies and Northern Brewer are decidedly weak on stocking decent Ph meters, calibration and storage solutions. I buy on Amazon - 4.01 / 7.0 solution in 8 oz. bottles. (Make sure to store these in refrigerator and pour out only what you need to calibrate on brew day. Warm to room temp. first) And HI 70300 Storage Solution.

 

[Gadjobrinus]

(Make sure to store these in refrigerator and pour out only what you need to calibrate on brew day. Warm to room temp. first)

Sendorf, I've not heard this before - always just kept my reference solutions out, at room temp, in their bottles. Can you share the reasoning behind the refrigeration? They degrade at room temp somehow?

 

[SEndorf]

Sendorf, I've not heard this before - always just kept my reference solutions out, at room temp, in their bottles. Can you share the reasoning behind the refrigeration? They degrade at room temp somehow?

What I've read, is the shelf life of an opened calibration solution is 3-6 months at room temperature. This shelf life can be dramatically increased if refrigerated. However I've not found a definitive answer as to how long of an increase. The 8 oz. bottles state "store in a cool dark place". They typically last about 8 months with my brew/calibration schedule. I'm comfortable with that and refuse to buy those expensive single use sachets.

 

[thehaze]

I have also purchased bigger bottles with calibration solution, as the single use sachets quickly become expensive.

I usually brew 5 batches at once,in the course of 1-2 weeks, so I think the bigger bottles are a better buy, once you know you will use a lot of it.

 

[FunkedOut]

are the dry buffers no good?
they can be had cheap on amazon.

 

[SEndorf]

The last I checked, the Science Company offered powdered packets in Ph measures compatible with Ph meters (4.0 / 7.0). The cost was about 3 dollars less than 8 oz. liquid bottles. IMHO... the cost savings was not worth the added variables of mixing your own solution with distilled.