# ON MEASURING GRAIN AND SUCH LOL



## Online Brewing Supplies (5/11/14)

My mate pistol patch from BIABrewer.info sent me this *link.* to funny shit that brewers do.
This is brewing gold RE measuring grain:


I just use the dodgy bathroom scales. I weigh myself before, write down my weight and then go downstairs, grab the malt, which I have put into a bucket, half full by eye, maybe have a drink or something to eat, go back upstairs and stand on the scales with the bucket balanced on my head (so I dont throw of the balance). I then write down my new weight and subtract the old weight from this, this gives me the weight of the grain. I repeat this process 5 or 6 times till I get the required quantity.
I have found this method much better than my previous one. I only had envelope scales that measured upto 50g, so I would weigh out 50g of malt, then spread it all out on some graph paper so that no grains were stacked (so the thickness was 1 grain thick) and count the number of squares that 50g of malt took up. Once I knew the area that 50g took up I could multiply out by my required quantity. I found that my driveway was the only area large enough to spread out my 5kg of grain spread to 1 grain thickness, so on it I marked out a 5cm grid (3g accuracy!). It was then a matter of spreading out the malt until enough squares in the grid were filled. It was quite a simple method but I had to find another way because a flock of cockies started hanging out in the trees near the house and would descend on the spread out grain while I was carefully eyeing along the ground to make sure the layer was only one grain thick. So I started doing it at night, but the cockies still came but they couldnt see in the dark, so now Im missing the top of my left ear and my right thumb.

THX Pat

Nev


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## Eagleburger (6/11/14)

I have been using 2kg kitchen scales. Going to ebay.


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## Spiesy (6/11/14)

Online Brewing Supplies said:


> My mate pistol patch from BIABrewer.info sent me this *link.* to funny shit that brewers do.
> This is brewing gold RE measuring grain:
> 
> 
> ...


What an idiot. 

You can buy decent commercial scales with 1g resolution on eBay for around $40 delivered. 

Surely you owe it to your beer to get your recipe right.


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## Blind Dog (6/11/14)

Not sure about the bathroom scales, but the graph paper method is sheer genius. And entirely sane


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## Yob (6/11/14)

Surely you jest..

I used to use my hop scales (5kg @ 0.1g resolution) but even that got old.. I then discovered that my 'scoop' was about 500g so I started 'weighing' be scoops..

14 scoops pale
10 scoops wheat
10 scoops munich

now with having played with my mash system a bit.. and the astonishing efficiency of the last brewday.. (first runnings 1.115) I'm wanting to dial it in again.. just bought one of THESE so I can once again do an accurate measure to know what my system eff. is.

I need to track down where the eff jump came from.. was it the change to the MM3 or the extra long mash out I did.. either way, the scoop method for now is sidelined in favour of new shiny scales :super:


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## Eagleburger (6/11/14)

A nearly full 4L icecream container is 2kg.


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## Blind Dog (6/11/14)

How long was your mash out? I've moved to exteded mash outs (sometimes overnight) simply because it allows me extra time in the brew day to do family stuff. Efficiency has jumped 3%-5%

Thanks for the link to the scales (mine are crap; keep resetting to US units mid way through a grain weight). Saves a heap on the graph paper I was going to order


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## Yob (6/11/14)

Blind Dog said:


> How long was your mash out? I've moved to exteded mash outs (sometimes overnight) simply because it allows me extra time in the brew day to do family stuff. Efficiency has jumped 3%-5%


I'd mashed at 63 for an hour, set the controller to ramp to 78 and went to lunch so inclusive of ramp times probably 1.5 hours till I got back.. before that I'd probably expect first runnings to be 1.085 so were talking a good 30 points :blink:


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## brewinski (6/11/14)

I got sick of measuring out water in my 500ml measuring jug, and could find anything else big and accurate enough, till I discovered that 4 seconds of the tap running in the kitchen (as long as no other taps, washing machines, dishwashers et al) gave me 500ml, so now I just time it to get the right litre-idge.

It may be why my IPA this weekend came out to a very healthy 1101. Over shot a bit, target was 1080.... Although I told myself I am just wildly efficient 

It's the graph paper of fluids


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## TheWiggman (6/11/14)

Come on booooooooys. It was originally posted here: http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/14739-are-you-an-anal-grain-measurer/?p=198490

He was having a laugh, so did I.


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## crozdog (6/11/14)

Sounds a bit like the "PoMo bucket measuring system" from way back when....

"A handful of gypsum, pinch of Epsom salts and a teaspoon of calcium chloride. Goes well with a mash of a bucket of base malt and about half a pint glass of crystal"

funny thing was he meant calcium carbonate not gypsum!

He made some nice beers too.


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## Online Brewing Supplies (6/11/14)

Aaah its nice to reminisce how AHB use to be, you know when you could be funny without getting banned .


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## Yob (6/11/14)

Reported


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## manticle (6/11/14)

Online Brewing Supplies said:


> Aaah its nice to reminisce how AHB use to be, you know when you could be funny without getting banned .



That's it mate. See you later.


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## Online Brewing Supplies (6/11/14)

Bye my friends this is the end for me :super:
Its all the OP s fault !
Nev


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## Pogierob (6/11/14)

Anyway it wouldn't be accurate. He might be balancing the bucket on his head for s more accurate reading but he hasn't substracted the weight of the bucket. After 4 / 5 times the weight would be way out. 
He would be far better off counting the grains over 10 seperate brews and then taking an average. :lol:


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## lukencode (6/11/14)

Why wouldnt you put the grains on the scale?


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## Crouch (6/11/14)

lukencode said:


> Why wouldnt you put the grains on the scale?


Now, come on then ... lets not get logical! The system works, lets leave it be.


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## Dips Me Lid (7/11/14)

Yob said:


> Surely you jest..
> 
> I used to use my hop scales (5kg @ 0.1g resolution) but even that got old.. I then discovered that my 'scoop' was about 500g so I started 'weighing' be scoops..
> 
> ...


First runnings at 1.115 is awesome, you could make a killer no sparge Barleywine with that.


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## Yob (7/11/14)

Or a barlywine and an IPA partygyle


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## Dips Me Lid (7/11/14)

Haha, I'd love to see ya give that a crack, could really work for the IPA to give some more tannin like dryness in the beer.


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## Online Brewing Supplies (7/11/14)

I am getting excited with all this talk of Barley Wines :icon_drool2:


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