Advice On A Scale And Other Stuff.

[jojai]

Hey,
I need to get a new scale for grain and hop measurement. I found this one on ebay.
It says it's accurate to +/- 1g, do you reckon that'll be good enough for hops? At the moment I just divide them up by eye depending on how big the bag was to start off with and work out the approximate weight like that, which is probably accurate to +/- 5g or more haha (but should I get a more accurate scale for the hops as well as a grain one?). The scale can also take up to 7kg and has a 30 year warranty, is that a good price for a scale of this calibre? (Even if the auction has ended, I'm sure I can find another similar one for a similar price).

Now question two, I have a 25L willow cooler that I want to use for mini batches (as there are so many beers out there I haven't tried, I don't need 20L to decide whether I like them). Unfortunately, this cooler doesn't have a drainage hole / bung in the side, so I can't easily tap it for drainage after mashing. Has anyone tried drilling a hole in the side and fitting a tap themselves? Or would I be better off dealing with a shallow grain bed in my 55L cooler?

Thanks in advance,
Joseph.

 

[mika]

Scales good, 1g accuracy fine. Buy it.

Yep, drill a hole, should be able to buy a weldless kit from GnG (sponsor) that'll allow you to make that work, or if you're handy with tools you should be able to work out the fittings you need to make it work. The only trouble you may have is squashing the esky wall as you tighten the fitting up, but then I don't use an Esky, so others comments may be more helpful.

 

[porky]

That scale looks absolutely perfic for grain, nice and big . The price seems pretty good as well. As for hops....it depends on how absolutely picky and pedantic you want to be with them. For the most part, +/- 1g is fine, but it can be a bit fiddly for some very low hopped / low OG styles. (as the lower you go, the more accurate you need to be. When doing a mild with OG 1030 to 13-15 IBU, 1g can make a big difference. Doing a 1045 to 30IBU, the difference in 1g isn't worth mentioning.)

WIth the esky question, if its for minis, go with the smaller one. Beerbelly also sells bulkheads. or another option you might get away with is to just drill and use a rubber bung jammed in the hole from the inside. I use this with my 55L esky brand. Small bung with a bit of tube through the centre (from a bottling attachment) with ss braid clamped on inside, and standard nylon tube clamped outside, which I just crimp with locking pliers, and release to drain. I don't get any leaking, and it works fine. The only difference, though, is that it is through the manufactured drain hole, not through a hole I have drilled in, so I don't know how it would go, as the inner/outer shells have seperation, wheras on the manufactured drain hole, it is squashed together there deliberately.

I think that in the big esky for a small batch, you would have all kinds of problems, as you would hardly have enough grain in there to come over your manifold/braid or whatever you use. Also, with such a shallow bed, and som much headspace, you might get some serious heat loss occuring cos of the excessive surface area to depth that you have.

I've actually been thinking of getting a smaller cooler for exactly the same reasons.

 

[porky]

oops, can you tell I don't do this often?
That is the scale I have and it is very good. High quality and very accurate.

 

[Screwtop]

I you have ever removed a tap from a cooler you will have noticed that the outer hole is larger than the inner and that the fitting, washer and nut seal against the inner only. Cut a larger diameter hole from the outside through the outer wall and insulation and a neat hole in the inner to accomodate whatever size the fitting is that you plan to use. This allows the bulkhead nuts and washers to seal up hard either side of the inner material.

Screwy

 

[yardy]

Now question two, I have a 25L willow cooler that I want to use for mini batches (as there are so many beers out there I haven't tried, I don't need 20L to decide whether I like them). Unfortunately, this cooler doesn't have a drainage hole / bung in the side, so I can't easily tap it for drainage after mashing. Has anyone tried drilling a hole in the side and fitting a tap themselves? Or would I be better off dealing with a shallow grain bed in my 55L cooler?

Thanks in advance,
Joseph.

Hey Jo,

here's a couple of tuns that i built, the first may help you out a bit.

QUICK & EASY TUN

MANIFOLD

Cheers
Yard

 

[Fourstar]

If you want some scales and other cheap nifty gadgets (torches are really cheap) with no shipping fee, www.dealextreme.com is a good option.

CHEAP (in price) 0.1g resolution scales available here - http://www.dealextreme.com/products.dx/cat...6~search.scales

They also have user reviews.

 

[reVoxAHB]

I recently purchased this scale off eBay:

it goes up to 30kg in 1g increments and I've found it to be highly accurate even at the low-end (eg 44g pellets). My average grainbill is between 12-14kg, and it's convenient to throw a 25L bucket on the scale and just pour in grain to weight in one go.

I can't comment on the specific scale you're looking at (budwiser says it's good).. just wanted to add most of those "30 year warranties" and similar are absolute bullshit. I've gone through 3 of the smaller 5kg/1g scales (before purchasing the new big one above). The last scale I picked up at Chef's Hat in S.Melbs was manufactured in Germany w/10 year warranty. I paid around $50 for it, from memory. Anyway, after it died within 6 mo. I boxed it up, took it to the Chef's Hat w/receipt and was told I had to pay to ship it to Germany.. the manufacturer would look at it and if it could be repaired, they would do so at no charge.. but then I'd have to pay (again, out of my own pocket) for shipping back to AUS. Point is, hardly worth the cost of warranty claim.. in fact, was told it would likely cost "more" than the purchase of a new unit with no assurance that it can even be repaired.

The $ difference between the unit you are looking at and the one I purchased (with shipping) is about $40, fwiw.

reVox

 

[ozpowell]

Hey,
I need to get a new scale for grain and hop measurement. I found this one on ebay.
It says it's accurate to +/- 1g, do you reckon that'll be good enough for hops?

Hi Joseph,

I bought the same scales off ebay myself about a month or so ago - I absolutely love them. Perfect for measuring hops as well as grain and very accurate.

 

[pcmfisher]

I just did my first half size all grain the other day.

My 25l esky has no drain hole either. So I connected my braided hose to a 90deg plastic fitting and ran the tube over the top and syphoned the liquid out. A quick suck and away it went.

Didn't have the braided hose in the grain at all while it was mashing , that way you can put the lid on. It was only put in at the end when I did my half arsed mash out and stir. ( not enough boiling water on hand )

I put a tap on the end of the hose to slow the flow ( don't know if this is better?) and also to turn it off when coming towards the end so you don't need to suck start it again when sparging.

I did a half size because I only have an 18l boiling pot at the moment on the stove. I thought it was never going to boil!

The recipe was the doctors JSGA clone which I have heard good reports about. I used exactly half of all ingredients and ended up with the same OG as he did, so I assume my efficiency was fairly good for a first timer.

It is currently maturing in the bottles. Looking forward to it.

 

[jojai]

Ah shit, I read the first few comments that the scale is good and bought it, then read revox's comment. Well, I knew the warranty would be a drag to sort out, as they always are, I was more saying it would probably to be quality if they have a warranty like that. So anyway, wish me luck and I hope it lasts more than a few months.

Fourstar: I think I'll get one of the "Cell Phone Style Digital Pocket Scale 500g/0.1g " for something other than brewing

Yardie: Thanks for the how to, that bung looks like it'll fix any potential leaking problem, and it was something I didn't think of at all.

And Screwtop I'll keep that in mind

 

[jojai]

pcmfisher: I had thought about siphoning but then thought that it might not be clean enough for brewing. But I guess it gets boiled right after anyway. I'll keep that in mind.

 

[PostModern]

Long warranties are based on the principle that most people will not chase up a warranty replacement. If your scales break in 2 years time, will you have the receipt, original packaging and an address for the manufacturer? And as reVox pointed out, will the shipping be worth the effort?

I'll sell you a 50c pen for $1 and give you a lifetime guarantee. All you need to do is send me the broken pen by registered post when it fails... not worth the postage if you can just buy another one for 50c. Unless a brand has good local representation, long warranties are nothing but an extra bit of sales pressure.

 

[clean brewer]

I bought a set of these for hops, work great or you can use them to weigh other light stuff(0.1gr)..