I keep and dispense the acids in the garage now as it seems safer.
Tiny but hopefully useful
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Umm.... well not quite the vapour cabinet but yes with nitrile gloves... and with some of the powders like chemclean and calcium hydroxide I have been known to use an FFP2 mask. (just me then....).
Lightweight
I have a full face sundstrom with a cf32 gas cartridge.
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What level of accuracy are people actually shooting for in their water treatment anyway?
I normally add 2-4g of calcium salts, probably with an accuracy of 0.1g.
And normally 3-6ml of lactic acid, probably with an accuracy of 0.2ml. both of these are quick and super easy (kitchen scales and Calpol syringe).
I would be very surprised if I could taste the difference in two batches 23L of beer, where the water additions varied by 1g of salts and 1ml of acid. So for me, good enough is good enough and I won't get any benefit from more accuracy
I normally add 2-4g of calcium salts, probably with an accuracy of 0.1g.
And normally 3-6ml of lactic acid, probably with an accuracy of 0.2ml. both of these are quick and super easy (kitchen scales and Calpol syringe).
I would be very surprised if I could taste the difference in two batches 23L of beer, where the water additions varied by 1g of salts and 1ml of acid. So for me, good enough is good enough and I won't get any benefit from more accuracy
An Ankoù
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I agree entirely. I'm not even sure that a municipal water supply can maintain exactly the same level of salts and alkalinity day after day. Do we test the supply every time we brew? A megakeggery might, but I certainly don't.
Or is this about correcting the mash pH once the mash has started? Never done that, either.
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I too agree. But given that supplies can change, I test every brew (strips) but only for ballpark figures. I also test after to confirm. 
I then add a glug of AMS after donning my NBC kit and snort the DWB and spit that in.
I then add a glug of AMS after donning my NBC kit and snort the DWB and spit that in.
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My previous lab job where I was working with addition/dispense tolerances in the 10ths (and sometimes 100ths depending on the product) of a nanogram and nanolitre range that could ruin the batch of product has trained me into intensively focusing on the ensuring the numbers give the expected result.
Struggling to let that go as I venture into AMS(CRS) and DWB water treatment as it's going against everything I'd known for the 3.5 years I was in my previous job
Reading things like this helps
Struggling to let that go as I venture into AMS(CRS) and DWB water treatment as it's going against everything I'd known for the 3.5 years I was in my previous job
Reading things like this helps
Possibly a daft question, but do brewing acids lose effectiveness or degrade through age, or are we talking 100s or 1000s of years?
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I know people bulk buy, but how old is your stock?!?
At an average of 2ml a batch, it's taking me a while to get through
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That's just showing off, at 15ml I get through, quite a bit.
Mmm... I wear a mask and gloves with some of these chemicals.Umm.... well not quite the vapour cabinet but yes with nitrile gloves... and with some of the powders like chemclean and calcium hydroxide I have been known to use an FFP2 mask. (just me then....
I would like a glass seperatory funnel though!
I used 0.82 ml of lactic acid in my last brew and I kind of wonder the point of even using it. I suspect my accuracy at guessing the decimal in a syringe versus the scale will be much a muchness. Next time I will will use the syringe and then weigh it and see how close I get. Not that I think either of them are calibrated!
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An Ankoù
Landlord.
I've got both lactic acid and phosphoric acids, but haven't yet run out of CRS. When I do get round to using them, I'll probably dilute them to 10% or 20% depending on the volume needed to correct 10 litres (as I treat my water in 10 litre batches).
I'll then use a 10ml syringe graduated in 0.1 ml stages.
It's not scientifically accurate, but good enough and easier than handling minute amounts of more concentrated acids.
You can get blunt needles made for perfumiers rather than hypodermic needles. This makes reaching the bottom of a 250 ml bottle very easy.
Rinse well after use.
I'll then use a 10ml syringe graduated in 0.1 ml stages.
It's not scientifically accurate, but good enough and easier than handling minute amounts of more concentrated acids.
You can get blunt needles made for perfumiers rather than hypodermic needles. This makes reaching the bottom of a 250 ml bottle very easy.
Rinse well after use.
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Good point. I have a couple of blunted needles. Yes indeed very handy. I push the syringe and then suck liquor back through to rinse.
So you are completely losing any accuracy... there's about 0.2 to 0.4ml dead space in the syringe once fully closed, the markings on the syringe correspond to the expressed volume, not the volume in the syringe. If you pull such liquor back and rinse that way then that extra bit gets added in. I had this discussion many many years ago with a nurse on a neonatal unit when diluting medicines in special care baby unit, that you can't measure the amount in a 1ml syringe then dilute it in the same syringe. ( I should emphasise the person in question had not done this for a baby's dose - it was an explanation of why)
However, to be clear the accuracy doesn't matter that much. Right back to my original post, it's just a bit easier for me to weigh these rather than putting my fingers into the neck of a bottle of a caustic acid. I also want to be consistent about what I do.
Hi Anna are syringes calibrated with the needle on or off as this would be critical for medical purposes.
I am guessing the ones for dispensing medicine (for children)are calibrated without syringes
Asking for a friend
I am guessing the ones for dispensing medicine (for children)are calibrated without syringes
Asking for a friend
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The calibration shows how much has been expressed. It doesn't matter if there is a needle. If you fill the syringe to the 2ml mark and then squeeze the syringe down to the 1ml mark you have expressed 1ml,whether or not you have a needle on the syringe.Hi Anna are syringes calibrated with the needle on or off as this would be critical for medical purposes.
I am guessing the ones for dispensing medicine (for children)are calibrated without syringes
Asking for a friend
Does that mean the syringe needle is still full fluid rich which makes sense
