PH meter opinions

[Beer-lord]

Each year with my little bonus I like to buy some new piece of brew equipment and while I've twice almost ordered one earlier this year, I held back and am now looking at some that might be on sale.
So, what's the opinions for a decent but relatively cheap meter? I've read lots of good stuff about Hanna and HM Digital. Feel free to suggest why you chose what you chose and if it's lived up to what you thought it would.

[MadBrewer]

I use the Hanna Checker. It's about $25-$35 depending on where you purchase it. You can find them cheap on Amazon. It's a basic ph meter which is all you would need to use for brewing. There are other models out there, and sure you will get what you pay for but a basic meter is all you need. The thing I like about the Checker is you can purchase replaceable probes for about $15 instead of replacing your meter. So once a year or so you might need to replace the probe no matter how well you take care of it. I also like the shape because I need only a very small shot glass sample of either wort, beer or calibration fluid. Other units would require a much wider sample container. This actually fits into my hydrometer jar so I can kill two birds when I check for SG in the boil and it's ph before and after. It's also been pretty durable. I've dropped it, knocked it over, let it run dry, left it in the garage to freeze...it's all good man. There are other brands/types out there but for a basic meter this does the trick for me. There's my .2 cents.



What I do with my meter is test mash ph, it helps me acidify my sparge water, I check pre-boil and post boil ph and sometimes I'll check final beer ph. When you get used to using water addition calculators and checking your mash ph, after a while you will get a feel and get to trust the water software but I usually verify anyway. It doesn't take any effort. It would be like looking at the sun and you saying "ok we are heading West"...then I pull out a compass and let you know "well we are actually heading Southwest". It's just another tool, to me it's as important as a thermometer. You can look at water and tell it's boiling, but you can't look at your mash and tell the ph. You can look at your sparge water and tell if the ph is too high which can hurt your beer. You get the idea. Ph impacts everything in your brewing. The ideal mash ph starts a domino of effects that take place. The right mash ph helps keep the ph from rising too high when you sparge, which keeps the ideal ph in the boil which helps the boil end with an ideal ph to let the yeast get to work and finish lowering the ph for a good final beer ph. Mash ph impacts fermentablilty and clarity in the finished beer with a good hot and cold break, it keeps you from extracting tannins from too high a ph in the sparge, keeping ph in check in the boil makes for better and smoother hop extraction and getting a final beer ph of around or under 4.5 makes for the best tasting beer. Ph effects a lot more than a lot of brewers think, why wouldn't we want to check it?

[Beer-lord]

Thanks.......but what about any solution needed? Is there a specific kind or are they all basically the same?
I've got lots of reading up to do.



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[MadBrewer]

The solutions are calibrating solution. They are doing the same thing, usually there is one calibration solution for 4.0 and one for 7.0. You need to calibrate your meter often, I usually do it before every brewday so I can trust my readings. You also need to store the meter in solution, and never let the probe run dry. I fill the cap with the 7.0 solution and that's good enough for me. Solutions can be expensive but they are a necessity. But you only need a tiny bit at a time to calibrate the meter.

[Beer-lord]

Thanks again for the info!

[MadBrewer]

Here is some awesome information if you like that kind of thing...some guys dont. Its the best information regarding brewing and ph I have ever found. Very informative.


http://braukaiser.com/wiki/index.php?ti ... ts_brewing

[Beer-lord]

Wow! Information overload.

[MadBrewer]

That link breaks it down very nice. You can skim through it and pick out bits and pieces that are important or things that could answer your questions. Like a lot of things in brewing theres all kinds of scientific mumbo jumbo but in the end we only need to understand the process enough work through it.

[Beer-lord]

Any problems using ph 7.0 instead of 7.01 on the Hanna? I see it seems to rate better and is cheaper at a number of places? The same with ph 4.0 instead of 4.01? I assume as long as you calibrate it properly based on the solution, it's ok?????

[MadBrewer]

Any problems using ph 7.0 instead of 7.01 on the Hanna? I see it seems to rate better and is cheaper at a number of places? The same with ph 4.0 instead of 4.01? I assume as long as you calibrate it properly based on the solution, it's ok?????

Beer-lord, the calibration fluid I have now is 4.0 and 7.0. I calibrated this morning for my brew session today. Worked just fine. I don't know why there are different fluids but as long as it's calibrated to what the fluid is. Just remember, most fluids are rated that ph at 25c, about 75F. So you have to also make sure you are around that temp when you calibrate the meter. The same thing when you check ph in the mash, sparge water, beer...etc it needs to be at room temp 68-75* is fine.

[Beer-lord]

Gotcha! As I thought from what I've read.
Many thanks.

[ScrewyBrewer]

Gotcha! As I thought from what I've read.
Many thanks.

I have the HANNA HI98121 pH meter and it calls for 4.01, 7.01 and 10.01 calibration solutions. Not all meters do though, some call for 4.00, 7.00 and 10.00. I would just use what is recommended by the manufacturer. This model also has a replaceable pH probe, they're not cheap at $59.95 though. Keeping the meter submersed in storage solution, when not in use is a very good idea, as is never letting the bulb of the probe go dry.

[Beer-lord]

Thanks Vince. I figured I'd start off with the cheap one and if I feel I really need it, upgrade later. I'm pretty happy with my beers without using one so I'm not sure if I need the upgrade.
Close should be good enough.

[Dawg LB Steve]

Just got, came in this morning, the Etekcity PH-2011 pocket sized yellow pen tester and Atlas Scientific Calibration kit 4.0 and 7.0 4oz bottles from Amazon, with shipping it was $37.87. The meter was $18 and the solution kit was $12.

[MadBrewer]

I really can't see it making a huge impact wether you calibrate with 7.0 or 7.01 but as Screwy noted if a different meter calls for another calibration like the 10.0 by all means follow the remendations and the procedure.

That looks like a nice little starter set Dawg.