I recently bought a scale to measure water. My main goal in buying this scale was speeding up the brew setup process by weighing a single volume of brewing water. I think that speed up is definitely worthwhile. I also weigh the final wort and calculate that volume. Measuring volumes after the brew is a nice to have but not crucial.
The weighing surface dimensions of the scale I picked are 9.45”x11”. That allows me to place the empty keg on the scale and measure out brewing water. Weighing the brewing water as it is added to the keg is way faster than weighing one gallon at a time. I think it is also more accurate that using a graduated container (measuring cup) to measure water.
The second way I use the scale is after the brew I place my empty fermenter on the scale and press tare. I then pour the wort into the fermenter and get an accurate weight of the wort. I then use BeerSmith’s weight to volume tool to convert to volume. That tool takes specific gravity into account. I think this is a very accurate way to measure volumes.
I bought this scale ($38.99):
Accuteck A-BC200 200LB x 0.2 OZ:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B076ZWTW7M
I wanted to estimate the accuracy of the scale. These are not perfect tests but they give me a warm fuzzy. I weighed two things on this scale and a smaller kitchen scale I use to weigh grain and hops.
First, I weighed a 500 gram calibration weight. Both scales read exactly 500 grams.
Second, I weighed a one gallon bottle (milk jug) empty and full on both scales.
Accuteck A-BC200 scale
Empty bottle: 0.14 lbs, 65g
Full bottle 8.44 lbs, 3830g,
(8.44-0.14) / 8.34 => 0.995 gallons
Kitchen scale (Ozeri ZK240)
Empty bottle: 0.16 lbs, 71g
Full bottle: 8.43 lbs, 3822g
(8.43-0.16) / 8.34 => 0.992 gallons
The weights for PicoBrew Z1 batches are in the range of 35-40 lbs (keg plus brew water) depending on the amount of water. So the above tests are helpful but not perfect.