useing ph test strips

[F_R_O_G]

I got some ph test strips to try out, tested my wort, per instructions on label, and it was off the chart acidic. below 4.6ph. tested again, same results. tested the water coming out of the faucet and it measured 4.8ish ph. mixed in baking soda with some water and the striped changed to over 5.8ph. the water report says the ph should be 8.9ph. temp of the wort was about 70deg. any idea whats going on? I don't have any water treatments in my house

 

[HIlife]

There are a lot of garbage pH strips. What company are they from?

 

[F_R_O_G]

there from precision labs. I called the city water to find out what they have for there current ph and it was 6.985ph (crazy how sensitive it was). also tested some bottled water, measured way to low. so my brand new strips are garbage, i think.

what would be some good test strips to get?

 

[HIlife]

Sorry, I always forget to check my threads. A lot of people use the EMD 4.0-7.0 strips, but they're not cheap anywhere. I found some Whatman 4.0-7.0 paper on Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00394FDA6/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20) but I haven't tried it yet for my mash. It matches up with our high quality pH strips in the lab with finished beer though.

EMD and Whatman are lab-focused companies so they tend to be much more accurate/precise.