19 replies to this topic

[Big Nake]

This is a Taylor stainless steel digital scale (11 lb capacity) that I picked up today at Target.I had a cheap plastic analog scale that was a little delicate. The first one I had I dropped from about 1 foot off the ground and it started acting all weird. I ordered another one (Austin homebrew) which was probably a mistake... it lasted about a year... I dropped it this morning when taking grains out to the garage to measure out for tomorrow's brewday. Again, I dropped it from about 12" and it landed on the concrete and did the same thing the first one did: started acting all weird and not measuring right. So I said SCREW IT and went to Target. This stainless digital jobbie was $31 marked down to $24 and it's very small but seems to work really well. I assume everyone is set on scales but if anyone was looking for a replacement, this seems to be a nice option.

[Steve Urquell]

Good looking little scale, Ken. I've been using a Harbor Freight one similar to it for 6+ yrs and it's still accurate. Never have dropped it though.

[Big Nake]

It would be great if this one lasted awhile. To be clear, the one I had twice and dropped was this one...

[3rd party JKor]

I have 120# postage scale I picked up at surplus years ago, its awesome.

 

I also saved a gram balance from the trash at work.  Measures grams to three decimal places up to about 2kg.  Great for hops, salts, etc.  It's amazing the shit they throw away there.

[BlKtRe]

Looks like a great scale. Unfortunately for me it doesn't weight high enough for the accuracy I need for larger batches. Price is excellent though!!

[positiveContact]

2 scales is almost required for this hobby.

[HVB]

2 scales is almost required for this hobby.

Sadly I am at 3 now. One for large amounts of grain, one for smaller amounts like specialty malts or hops and one for water additions. Sigh

[positiveContact]

Sadly I am at 3 now. One for large amounts of grain, one for smaller amounts like specialty malts or hops and one for water additions. Sigh

 

actually I do as well I just realized.  the large one you sent me is for base grain.  I have a tiny digital one for hops/salts.  and then a non-digital spring type for 1lb and less grain measurements.

Edited by Evil_Morty, 22 March 2015 - 04:08 AM.

[Big Nake]

Sadly I am at 3 now. One for large amounts of grain, one for smaller amounts like specialty malts or hops and one for water additions. Sigh

I have a small analog scale that I would use for very small grain additions like 1 ounce and maybe up to 4 ounces. But this new one shows pounds and ounces so I'm thinking that this scale will take the place of 2 older scales. I do have a very small digital jobbie that weighs in grams and ounces that I use for salt additions and also for hops.

[mabrungard]

I picked up this unit for grain measurements: https://www.etekcity...uct/100075.html

 

It's not bad. I checked the calibration and it was about 0.1 percent off, which should be plenty good for measuring homebrew batches. It's inexpensive. It does have one bad feature in that it locks on a final reading and you can't add more mass to the bucket. So it gets some getting used to. 

[Big Nake]

Martin: I use a scale just like that to weigh my bags when I'm travelling so I don't go over 50 lbs! Funny that you're using it for brewing... never thought to try it for that.

[Stout_fan]

I have a 33 lb Escalli for the grain.

And a 0.5kg Harbor freight for hops and water profile powder additions.

 

I also have a RCBS precision grain balance for a different kind of powder that is totally incompatible with alcohol.

[3rd party JKor]

[Stout_fan]

Just ask Dick Chenny

[zymot]

An 11 pound scale is not big enough. You can't weight out grains in stages? 20 pounds of grain is 7 +7 + 6 = 20?

 

I do 5 gallon batches, an 11 pound scale would be usable. To date, I have never bought bulk grains, I weigh out everything at the LHBS.

[Big Nake]

An 11 pound scale is not big enough. You can't weight out grains in stages? 20 pounds of grain is 7 +7 + 6 = 20? I do 5 gallon batches, an 11 pound scale would be usable. To date, I have never bought bulk grains, I weigh out everything at the LHBS.

Yeah, my batches are small and I only make 5-gallons at a time so an 11-pound scale works just fine for me. If you made 10+ gallons at a time, it would still be usable but I could see it being less than convenient. This arrangement is actually really nice for me because I used to have to carefully balance a big stainless bowl on my old scale (see pic above) and now this new scale has a much bigger platform so I don't have to worry about things toppling over.

[Dave McG]

I picked up this unit for grain measurements: https://www.etekcity...uct/100075.html

 

It's not bad. I checked the calibration and it was about 0.1 percent off, which should be plenty good for measuring homebrew batches. It's inexpensive. It does have one bad feature in that it locks on a final reading and you can't add more mass to the bucket. So it gets some getting used to. 

I used to use one like that in my chest freezer to see how much was left in a keg.

[ChefLamont]

I have a 33 lb Escalli for the grain.

And a 0.5kg Harbor freight for hops and water profile powder additions.

 

I also have a RCBS precision grain balance for a different kind of powder that is totally incompatible with alcohol.

 

 

I have used  my digital reloading scale for hops too.  Actually, for small batch brewing, where relatively small variances in weight can translate to big impacts especially with high alpha hops, it has been a pretty good idea.

 

I think I have 5 digital scales around here.  There is some overlap though.

[Stout_fan]

This is, of course, is in addition to a certain LARGER capacity digital scale that tells me numbers each AM that I don't want to know about.

[gnef]

I have a few scales as well. For base grain and general use around the house is a 400# capacity to .1# readout with a tethered display. It isn't that accurate at less than a pound, as I found out when I was using it for specialty grains, and my beers were coming out a bit darker than expected.

 

I also have a small scale, I forgot the max capacity, but I only use it for up to 1.5# of grain.

 

Then I have the .001 ounce readout scale for hop additions, I also forgot the max capacity on that one because I rarely go above a couple ounces at a time for hops, though I do go up to 4 ounces when measuring out my green coffee beans for roasting.