Converting grams to teaspoons?

[otherchuck]

Greetings all!

I have brewed beer for years, so it has been a while since I have felt like a brewing newbie (or newbee), but now that I am starting my first attempt at mead, I see that I have to learn a whole new set of rules/procedures. Thus I reckon I will be visiting this forum a number of times in the near future. Thanks in advance for your advice and patience!

I am planning to make a 5gal, lemon ginger mead, but haven't settled on a recipe yet (feel free to suggest one). My question concerns the measurement of various powders. Various powders (my DV10 yeast, my Go-Ferm, and my Fermaid) indicate amounts in grams, but I don't have a scale. My sister-in-law has a scale she uses to measure out food weights for her special diet, and I could borrow that, but I don't know how sensitive it is. Are there general rules of thumb for converting grams to teaspoons? The problem here, obviously, would be that some powders might be significantly denser than others, but that kind of error variance might be less than the kind of error variance associated with a scale that isn't sensitive enough.

I have used a smack-pack for every single batch of beer I have ever made, so this is my first attempt at rehydrating dry yeast. I am nervous about this process and really want to get the quantities right.

Thanks,

Chuck

 

[TAKeyser]

Can't help you with the grams to tsp conversion, but I can direct you to this lemon ginger recipe that I hear is pretty tasty Viking Shandy.

Unlike Beer you can easily scale up Mead recipes

 

[fivecats]

The Google is your friend:

http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/cooking-conversions/gram-conversions-general.aspx

 

[wayneb]

One thing to keep in mind is that different chemicals have different densities, so any conversion from grams to volume measurement (i.e. tsp) need to take into account those differences. A better online reference to use for meadmaking is this one: http://www.nashwoodwinery.com/Equivalency_Tables.pdf which gives you the gram weight of teaspoon quantities of the chemicals that we use most.

 

[Robusto]

What Wayneb said- one is a measurement by weight, the other by volume. Differences in density could change everything. Think about the difference in weight between a cubic inch of styrofoam and a cubic inch of lead. Obviously, that is an extreme example, but you get the point.

If you check out the mead section of homebrewtalk.com they have an excel spreadsheet that has conversions from grams to teaspoons, but I think it's only for Fermaid brand nutrient. My advise would be buy a simple digital scale. I mainly brew beer, and I use one alll the time for brewing beer. I got mine from Bed Bath and Beyond for about $25.00

 

[TAKeyser]

I just picked up a new digital scale at Wal-Mart for under $20

 

[056r]

Less than $7 and free shipping I picked up one of those. You can convert grams to teaspoons but your amounts will always be off to some degree.

 

[TAKeyser]

Less than $7 and free shipping I picked up one of those. You can convert grams to teaspoons but your amounts will always be off to some degree.

Damn, cheaper than the analog scale that I just replaced with what I thought was an inexpensive digital scale

 

[Chevette Girl]

Less than $7 and free shipping I picked up one of those. You can convert grams to teaspoons but your amounts will always be off to some degree.

I've got this one too. I think it works OK.

But I generally only use it for measuring out spices.

The instructions for my DAP go by teaspoons, same with my energizer, so I use teaspoons. Having done lab work, I'm willing to accept the inaccuracy of using a teaspoon of something since when we go by weight and don't vacuum-dehydrate everything first, measuring weights still has an inaccuracy involved with any humidity that the powder in question may have absorbed. The yeast seem to think that close is good enough for them, so good enough for me.

Plus, I haven't figured out how to satisfactorily sanitize my little weiging containers since plastic takes forever to dry completely and if it's not completely dry, stuff sticks to it, which introduces further inaccuracy... If I do ever get my hands on goferm, then I'll use the scale for measuring it and it can have its own little weighing container in a ziplock baggie so I don't have to sanitize it each time.

 

[PitBull]

Less than $7 and free shipping I picked up one of those. You can convert grams to teaspoons but your amounts will always be off to some degree.

That's the one I use too. I liked it so much, I purchased a second one as a spare/back-up. I checked its accuracy with laboratory weights and the scale works quite well. It was within 0.1 grams at 50 grams (that's 1/5 of 1%). Your measurements for additions to your must require no where near that accuracy. You can even by a 500 gram calibration weight for the scale at Amazon, but it cost more than the scale at $8.29.

 

[TAKeyser]

That's the one I use too. I liked it so much, I purchased a second one as a spare/back-up. I checked its accuracy with laboratory weights and the scale works quite well. It was within 0.1 grams at 50 grams (that's 1/5 of 1%). Your measurements for additions to your must require no where near that accuracy. You can even by a 500 gram calibration weight for the scale at Amazon, but it cost more than the scale at $8.29.

I think I'm going to have to pick one up as a back-up in case mine ever breaks.

 

[Zem]

a fine digital scale is definitely the way to go, but (and I havn't checked) I belive I had apost somewhere here where I weighed DAP, Fermaid K and Go Ferm on a scale in my lab class and they each came out to ~1g / 1/4 tsp. which is what I use for my rule of thumb with these.