After 4 years of brewing I am looking to get a good digital scale. I have been using the same old 11# scale I bought in the beginning from Walmart. Only does 1g and 0.1oz for the lowest settings. It has worked fine as I have built my recipes to those specs on hop weights and converted to 1/8tsp for brewing salts. I would really like to get a better and more accurate scale. I would like to get one that still has a decent max range like the 11, maybe higher as I have been buying bulk grains too now. Would like at least 0.1g resolution if not 0.01g. I am also wanting to not have to drop the cost of a bag of grains to get it. What do you use? Why? Anything you love about it? Anything that irritates you about it? If you could have any scale, which one would it be? Thanks y'all.
I'm not sure if you'll be able to find a single scale that you can use for bulk and that will also be as accurate as you want. It may exist, but before I bought mine, I didn't see anything like that. So I have two scales, one for bulk and one for accuracy of smaller masses. I bought the smaller scale from Old Will Knot. Don't know the model off hand, but they had bunch of models that are very accurate and relatively inexpensive. They're very portable, and probably the kind of scales that only home brewers and drug dealers would own. Edit: I can check the model when I get home.
Vikeman is correct, you gotta go deuce here and again Amazon is the supplier. For grain I use this one from Weighmax, for hops/chemicals I use this little petite one. Both have tare and the battery(ies) have lasted two+ years. Caveat, the little one is sold under many different brands at many different prices . . . browse around some and you'll save enough to buy more hops. Oh yeah, don't buy the calibration weight as you can use a couple of nickels to calibrate the small one (a five cent piece is exactly 5.0g) . . .
I use two scales. The grain scale I use something similar to the link. I do remember that I selected it based on the size of the platform. I wanted a scale that was big enough that I could use a 5 Gal bucket and tare it out. http://amzn.com/B00BUCHGYU For hop measurements (or as my friends call it the Drug Dealer Scale) I use the same one that @PortLargo uses.
this looks like it has that accuracy and is fairly cheap, the Escali Liberta PR-500: http://www.breworganic.com/escalilibertadigitalpocketscale100gx05g.aspx I can't vouch for it, but I have the less accurate Escali Primo that has held up well, so it should be a good brand.
If you find a scale that does it all, let us know. I use a postal scale for grains and a kitchen scale for hops/other smaller additions.
JScale JS-100xV. Calibration weight included. 100g x 0.01g capacity/accuracy. Measures in Grams, Ounces, Pounds, Troy Ounces, Pennyweight, Carats, and Grains. Been using this one for probably 5 years and couldn't be happier.
I've been looking to replace mine, and the replacement version of that one is on the top of my list (that model is discontinued).
I use the UltraShip 35 Scale , all of my recipes are in Oz and LB. and she serve me well on 5 and 10 gallon batches. Also use it for baking, post and parcels. love it.
Just got this one on Amazon, pretty basic and works good.... Zenith Digital Kitchen Scale by Ozeri, in Refined Stainless Steel with Fingerprint Resistant Coating by Ozeri
"This reminds me of when I used to deal weed." -my friend as he was weighing out hops for me the first time he helped me brew Learned something new about him that day.
