Thermometers - Temp Of Wort, Mash, Beer

[piraterum]

Hey Guys,

Until recently I was using a mercury stick thermometer (it broke) to measure the temp of mash, wort, beer. Hence i'm looking for a new thermometer.

I currently mashing partials in a round 7.5L esky. I used to open up the lid of the mash tun / fermentor and just insert the stick thermometer into a central spot and get a temp a reading.

I'm thinking of upgrading to a more accurate and easy to read gauge type like this one:
http://www.craftbrewer.com.au/shop/details.asp?PID=3027

Can you just stick the probe into mash, wort, beer etc and get immediate reading? Or do they have to be fixed to a kettle/mash tun for a period of time to get an accurate reading? :unsure:


cheers,

piraterum

 

[felten]

I bought one of these after Batz' recommendation and its fantastic, its not a gauge style but it has a clock and timer inbuilt as well as a temp alarm.

Plus its great for cooking chicken.

 

[thesunsettree]

Hey Guys,

Until recently I was using a mercury stick thermometer (it broke) to measure the temp of mash, wort, beer. Hence i'm looking for a new thermometer.

I currently mashing partials in a round 7.5L esky. I used to open up the lid of the mash tun / fermentor and just insert the stick thermometer into a central spot and get a temp a reading.

I'm thinking of upgrading to a more accurate and easy to read gauge type like this one:
http://www.craftbrewer.com.au/shop/details.asp?PID=3027

Can you just stick the probe into mash, wort, beer etc and get immediate reading? Or do they have to be fixed to a kettle/mash tun for a period of time to get an accurate reading? :unsure:


cheers,

piraterum

hi mate,
i ususally use a digital thermometer i got from dick smith. However i have misplaced for the last few brews. I have the same mashmaster thermo youre talking about that i havnt mounted yet, i use it the same as your suggesting with no probs, takes a few seconds to get to finally reading but no ill effects to speak of

Matt

 

[chadjaja]

I use one of these to check mash temps and temps in my hydro samples. Comes in its own sturdy tube for storage and the probe is plenty long.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...em=180564084316

 

[sama]

your lab style 300mm long imersion thermometer is more accurate than those mashmaster dial ones. I have both and never use the mashmaster one tho it looks good ...i bought 2 lab thermometers here http://labsupply.com.au/GENERAL%20LABWARE/...rmometers-48213 work great..

 

[Batz]

I bought one of these after Batz' recommendation and its fantastic, its not a gauge style but it has a clock and timer inbuilt as well as a temp alarm.

Plus its great for cooking chicken.

http://www.chef.com.au/prod/show/100267/di...r-by-club-chef/

They are great, I have mine mounted in the mash tun, after years of brewing I'm now getting accurate mash temperature readings, and I've tried them all.

Batz

 

[sama]

http://www.chef.com.au/prod/show/100267/di...r-by-club-chef/

They are great, I have mine mounted in the mash tun, after years of brewing I'm now getting accurate mash temperature readings, and I've tried them all.

Batz

i wondered what felten was refering to,looks a good little unit. How do u have it mounted batz?

 

[felten]

haha yeah sorry, I got sidetracked cooking dinner and forgot to add the link Batz saved the day though.

fixed up my post

 

[Batz]

i wondered what felten was refering to,looks a good little unit. How do u have it mounted batz?

I have an Igloo mash tun and just drilled a small hole (smaller than the probe) and pushed the probe through. The probe is stainless and water proof, the probe also disconnects from the unit so you can empty and clean the tun. I did use a little aquarium silicon to make sure it seals and have on occasions removed and replaced it.
The unit itself has a magnetic backing as well as a little fold out stand thingy, the lead is fairly long so you can sit it where ever it's convenient.
There's a timer for your mash as well.
I think it a pearler.

Batz

 

[piraterum]

your lab style 300mm long imersion thermometer is more accurate than those mashmaster dial ones. I have both and never use the mashmaster one tho it looks good ...i bought 2 lab thermometers here http://labsupply.com.au/GENERAL%20LABWARE/...rmometers-48213 work great..

Yeah I know the 300mm glass thermos are pretty accurate. I bought my last one from a homebrew shop and when I was working in a micro lab took it into work and checked it against the lab reference thermos. It was within +/- 0.5 degrees. The mashmaster gauge style ones claim to be +/- 1 degree. I can't seem to find the accuracy of the digital ones.

Just tossing up between slightly more accurate stick thermo or easier to read gauge type with the handy temp ranges labelled hmmm decisions, decisions

 

[MeLoveBeer]

I have an Igloo mash tun and just drilled a small hole (smaller than the probe) and pushed the probe through. The probe is stainless and water proof, the probe also disconnects from the unit so you can empty and clean the tun. I did use a little aquarium silicon to make sure it seals and have on occasions removed and replaced it.
The unit itself has a magnetic backing as well as a little fold out stand thingy, the lead is fairly long so you can sit it where ever it's convenient.
There's a timer for your mash as well.
I think it a pearler.

Batz

SOLD! Just brought one... Hope you're getting commision Batz :icon_cheers:

 

[felten]

If you go for a dial thermo, get one that can be calibrated

 

[Dazza_devil]

My digital probe thermometer almost killed my 1469 today so I'll be lookin at something reliable to read temperature.
I don't know if it got a bit of moisture in it or the battery is going but it was behaving very strange. It wouldn't keep a stable temp reading, kept jumping to different readings some of which were way out. I thought it had stabilised but my tempmate gave me a reading of 24.7 degrees for my starter when the probe gave me around 21. Hopefully there wasn't too much of a temp difference with the smack pack and the wort I pitched it into. I took a multimeter reading on the battery and it gave me 1.3 volts, not sure if that is the problem.

I'm tempted to look into one of the infrared jobs but they can get fairly expensive. Anyone use one of these or know anything about them?

 

[Rodolphe01]

Infrared is generally **** in my opinion. My work thermometers have probe + infrared and I don't even touch the infra unless I just was a ball park figure. I have compared the infrared in a mash and there was a 10 degree difference from the (calibrated) probe. 10 degrees out would obviously ruin your mash. Maybe the expensive infrared are more accurate, but my thermometer retails for about $150 so I wouldn't say it is 'crap' but you can spend a lot more too.

 

[sydneyhappyhour]

http://www.chef.com.au/prod/show/100267/di...r-by-club-chef/

They are great, I have mine mounted in the mash tun, after years of brewing I'm now getting accurate mash temperature readings, and I've tried them all.

Batz

I brought one of these but after about two brews it decided to stop telling the correct temperature. It is telling me the current room temperature is 46 degrees Celsius, needless to say I am back using my old glass thermometer again for mashing. :angry:

 

[Dazza_devil]

I'm starting to think that the old mercury is the most reliable of the lot, no batteries, unaffected by moisture and no need for calibration as far as I know. That labsupply place has pretty good ones too. THB-110B looks like a good one but not sure how it's graded.

 

[Dazza_devil]

I'm starting to think that the old mercury is the most reliable of the lot, no batteries, unaffected by moisture and no need for calibration as far as I know. That labsupply place has pretty good ones too. THB-110B looks like a good one but not sure how it's graded.

Looks as though that one is graded every 1 degree C.
Apparently glass thermometers can need calibration after time http://www.deltaenvironmental.com.au/manag...calibration.htm

 

[drtomc]

I guess the main drawback of mercury thermometers is their bouncability. Like the hydrometer.

:icon_offtopic: We used to have a mercury thermometer for taking body temperatures. We ended up concluding that they were an instrument for drawing a binary conclusion as to whether you were sick or not. If you drop and smash the thermometer you are sick; if you manage not to you are well and have to go to work.

T.

 

[Fourstar]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...em=180564084316

I have one of these and its done the job well for almost 3 years of one set of batteries! :beerbang: (although i am fearing the day i mash in and she doesnt fire)

when i build my new mashtun i will setup a temp probe/thermowell to slide something like batz product into. As long as they hold a constant (and accurate) temp, i'll be happy with it.

 

[MHB]

No matter what you use, get 1 good reference thermometer you can trust I mean a liquid in glass at a minimum make sure all your other sensors agree with it.

If its a degree or two out it wouldnt really matter you can make adjustments to your stated mashing temperature to taste, which any sensible brewer will be doing anyway.

The most important point is to get consistency.

I just invested in a NATA certified reference thermometer, its going off to get a 65^oC reference certificate the certification alone will cost $200- but then we will have a very accurate standard that local brewers can check there thermometers against no charge just a service to help brewers make better beer.

If you think about it that should give you some idea how important I think accurate temperature measurement is.

MHB