pH Test Strips What?

Mashing
1

I bought these: pH Test Strips Beer Range
http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/brewing/brewing-equipment/testing-measuring/ph-measurement/ph-test-strips-beer-range.html
and I have found that I must be doing something wrong. It always turns out the same color.

I thought that you could just dip them in, but I guess I may be using them wrong. Are these temp dependent, or depend on how much wort comes in contact? Or is my mash always at 5.0?

Unfortunately I do not have another way to test.

2

FWIW, I too always seemed to get the same reading. Frustrating. I have a meter and just need to figure out how to use it.

3

I bought some of those once. I never once got a useful reading out of them. In fact I never once got them to change color no matter what I did. Placing them in tap water with a PH of 8.0 never even got a color change out of them. I finally took them back the NB (retail store), and they couldn’t get them to change color either. They refunded my money and threw them in the trash. I suggest you do the same.

4

Interesting. I have purchased (though no longer use) those test strips, and I did see a change… though in retrospect they were probably reporting a bit lower than actual. Perhaps you got a bad batch?

5

Paper pH strips are garbage for brewing use. The plastic ColorpHast strips are much more reliable, but even they have limitation. Read about it here:

http://www.homebrewersassociation.org/f ... #msg174260
6

[quote=“mabrungard”]Paper pH strips are garbage for brewing use. The plastic ColorpHast strips are much more reliable, but even they have limitation. Read about it here:

http://www.homebrewersassociation.org/f ... #msg174260[/quote]

+1.060

7

+2.060 :wink:

Seriously though, ColorpHast strips are way more accurate and better.

Protip: Compare colors in natural light, like outside.

8

I’ve used that type. I’ve found if you let them soak for about 10 seconds they work well, especially if the wort is hot. If you do the full 20 seconds the package recommends it seems to be a little washed out. The colors aren’t very distinct, but I do find them useful.

Here’s more information about adjusting pH in the mash:

http://woodlandbrew.blogspot.com/2012/10/mash-ph.html
9

I use ph test strips to test my starsan solution to make sure it’s still plenty acidic. When it doesn’t come out red, I make up a new batch. They’ve served me well in that capacity.