I used EZ_Water and the ideal SRM range was for 7 to 12 (slightly lower than my SRM 13 beer).
I will also say that I used all new calibration fluid for the cal process and I also just went and took a sample of my tap water and read the pH with the strips and the result looks very close to the 6.6 I would expect. Those color keys are a dark blue/green and trickier to read but it’s very close.
Well that’s a bummer. My meter hasn’t arrived yet so I won’t get to try it until next weekend, I suppose I should get some Colorphast strips to check it against.
Originally I went into this hoping to learn something. If I’m out $49 on the meter but I learn that ColorpHast strips are good enough, fine. If I learn that these inexpensive meters are inaccurate or at the very least “touchy”, I will have learned that as well.
And I’d argue that you’ve done a public service in the process by posting your findings.
Let me go on record as saying thanks and that I’m looking forward to seeing how all of this plays out.
:cheers:
Always trust your experience first. Don’t trust the meter and decide to change your MO unless you’ve managed to verify that the meter is correct.
[quote=“rebuiltcellars”]
Always trust your experience first. Don’t trust the meter and decide to change your MO unless you’ve managed to verify that the meter is correct.[/quote]
Yeah, that’s how I felt yesterday. It was discouraging to see that the meter wasn’t showing me something productive (it was rather unproductive, IMO) but it DID show me that these strips are more reliable than I had originally thought. I ran into a number of meter-owners who told me that they started using the meter and then it ended up in a box. Many told me, “I don’t want to be pessimistic, but…” and now I understand what they’re talking about. I feel like I’m going through what many, many homebrewers already have gone through. I would never try to talk someone out of buying one but I would tell them to read this thread because in the end… the strips seem easier and better.
Hang in there Ken. I’ve been there. First off, I am stealing a quote of AJ DeLange: “Please don’t get discouraged. This is an intricate subject. There are lots of places to stumble and lots of things to get hung up on but having an interest and trying to figure it out plus some experience, which can only be gained over time, will, eventually, result in appreciably better beer. It is worth the effort.”
I assume you think your beer is not a good as you’d like otherwise you would not have bought the meter. So to me this means either the strips are not accurate or your process is off but I recall that your process is good. Am I off?
There was a reason I got us talking about stabilization time… You sure you waited long enough? What was the temp? If it was under 68F it might cause that reading…
With a new mindset, I went down to my beer bunker this morning and had my meter, storage solution, 4.0 and 7.0 solutions and also a shotglass of tap water. I ran through the calibration process as normal and it went well. It took quite a bit longer than it shows in the vid but I remember someone saying this could happen when the meter is new. Then, with the unit still on (never turned it off), I placed the probe in the storage solution (which I believe is around pH 4.0 because they say you can use the 4.0 solution as a storage solution) and it measured 4.0. Then to the 7.0 solution where it read 7.0 and finally to the 4.0 where it read 4.0. As I was waiting for it to stabilize, I re-read the small sheet that came with the meter and saw where it said to ‘stir gently’ while the meter is taking a reading and wait for it to stabilize. This might be an important step because the meter seemed to move quicker after a gentle stir. Then I moved it over to the tap water where it slowly started climbing from 4.0 into the 5s and then it slowed down. I stirred it up a little and it took off towards the mid 6s and finally stopped at 6.6 after a couple of minutes. This is very encouraging but I can’t see anything different about what I did today than yesterday except the stirring (although I’m pretty sure I was stirring my wort mixture) and the fact that I didn’t turn the meter off during the whole thing (Brauer mentioned this). But at one point the meter shut itself off possibly because of inactivity… I turned it back on and the rest of the measurements seemed correct.
Also… when you guys take a sample of wort, do you typically have chunks of grain in the sample too? Is it necessary for it to only be liquid? Wasn’t sure on that. I will try this meter again on the next brewday to see if it’s improving, learning, getting broken-in, etc. Thanks for the help gang.
[quote=“zwiller”]Hang in there Ken. I’ve been there. First off, I am stealing a quote of AJ DeLange: “Please don’t get discouraged. This is an intricate subject. There are lots of places to stumble and lots of things to get hung up on but having an interest and trying to figure it out plus some experience, which can only be gained over time, will, eventually, result in appreciably better beer. It is worth the effort.”
I assume you think your beer is not a good as you’d like otherwise you would not have bought the meter. So to me this means either the strips are not accurate or your process is off but I recall that your process is good. Am I off?
There was a reason I got us talking about stabilization time… You sure you waited long enough? What was the temp? If it was under 68F it might cause that reading…[/quote]
I think my processes were okay. My biggest stumbling block is water and how to prepare it for various styles. I want to eliminate or reduce variables and I want answers to questions like “what was your mash temp”, “what was your mash pH”, etc. and I don’t want to guess. I want to KNOW. I make good beer and sometimes great beer. This water odyssey I have been on has produced some bad beer. Dumpable beer. But I think I have turned that corner and I’m on my way to better and better beer. As I look through my process, I look for variances or wiggle-room where I could tighten things and pH was one of them. It may be that the strips were just fine all along and I didn’t know. As I play with the meter, I will post back.
Stirring is vital.
Yes.
Good to see you may have your meter dialed in, I was beginning to fear that I may have wasted 90 bucks on a meter and solutions. I ended up going with the Milwaukee 56 meter, it was only ~$12 more than the M55 and I picked up 3 bottles of the buffer and storage solutions too. One of my brew buddies works at our local water plant, I’m gonna have him bring their meter up for comparison when it comes in.
Glug: We will get to the bottom of all of this and be satisfied and happy meter users. I think. A number of people have mentioned that new meters are particularly dodgy so my hope is that more calibration and more use will mean more reliable service. Please post your initial comments when you get the meter and start playing with it. I’m glad I had the strips to use as a comparison tool. Cheers gang.
[quote=“Ken Lenard”]We will get to the bottom of all of this and be satisfied and happy meter users.[/quote]I hear ya. This (and water) is the final frontier for me. I’ve been blindly adjusting RO water for the last few years with good results but now I need to know. There’s also a handful of brewers in my area that I can share my findings with and they’re always pretty generous with samples.
Me too, Brother.
Hate to hear that you are struggling with your meter Ken, I haven’t experienced any of these issues with mine. Hope you get it worked out and don’t get discouraged.
[quote=“Ken Lenard”]I would never try to talk someone out of buying one but I would tell them to read this thread because in the end… the strips seem easier and better.[/quote]Shoulda bought the pH56 instead. 
Not sure if you saw the results Ken got with his RO water… I am glad I was forced to use distilled to at least know what I am dealing with.
Ken, you test any commercial beers with that meter yet? De-carbed and room temp of course… Then if you’re brave enough measure yours…
Anyone using a Hanna Checker?
I used Hanna Checkers for years. I went through 2 of them in about 6 or 7 years. They are OK. They would have probably lasted longer if I had used storage solution.
However now that I’ve had over a year with my Milwaukee MW-101, it is a much more confidence inspiring machine. It calibrates more consistently (probably because I store the probe in storage solution) and I like that I can replace the probe without replacing the whole unit. It is more expensive, but I think I got what I paid for.
Well I got my meter earlier this week an I’m in the process of doing the initial conditioning. The plan is to brew a plain ale tomorrow with my normal water routine just to get an idea where I’m at. Some of my beers have been finishing with high FGs, I haven’t been treating my sparge water, just using carbon filtered water, I suspect that my ph is too high after the sparge. I’ll update after brewing tomorrow.
[quote=“Glug Master”]Some of my beers have been finishing with high FGs, I haven’t been treating my sparge water, just using carbon filtered water, I suspect that my ph is too high after the sparge.[/quote]Assuming full conversion inthe mash, prior to sparging, I’m not aware of a way for higher pH sparge to cause a high FG.
