You may have seen my thread yesterday on a batch of rye IPA gone ass-end up because of a heatstick issue. That's what set off the unfortunate series of events that ensued, but it brought to light a much larger issue. My thermometer was off. I don't know what the difference was in mashing range, but at a full boil it was 30F low, reading at 182F. For those interested, it's this one. If you've been following along, you may have noticed that I haven't been getting the results I was hoping for on my past few batches. I think I found the culprit. Odds are very high (like 99.99%) that I was mashing well above my target, and it's certainly within the realm of possibility that I was mashing at 170F or even a little higher. It could help explain why my last two beers finished with such a high SG. It goes further than that though. This is also the thermometer I used to check the temperature of samples I pulled to test gravity. So basically whatever notes I took for my past couple batches are useless when it comes to various gravity readings. I successfully recalibrated the thermometer today - boiled water and checked it against a candy thermometer I found yesterday after the damage was done. It's stayed consistent as the water has cooled. In a way, it's kind of a blessing that things went south so badly yesterday. Otherwise, who knows how long I would have been turning out batch after batch of mediocre, not-what-I-was-shooting-for beer. But I figured I would share the lesson for new brewers who might take it for granted, or old ones who've forgotten. Check your shit. There's no guarantee that it's working properly.
Go digital! I also keep mine in during parts of the boil to make sure it reads correctly and is calibrated. I am due for a new thermometer soon though, this one is getting a little bit screwy.
That's the plan! I don't have the cash for a Thermapen, but Thermoworks has some more affordable options, so hopefully they're as accurate, if not a little slower.
I used this one, works well, just make sure to use some teflon where the wire meets the probe to keep it dry. Nice and cheap and has worked over 2 years now. http://www.amazon.com/Polder-Digita...383588048&sr=8-9&keywords=digital+thermometer
Just hold out for a sale for the Thermapens, thats when I bought mine.. For shits and giggles, I check mine against a very expensive lab grade glass/toluene, analog thermometer, and they are both tit for tat everytime. Good lesson to remind folks. Work backwards when you have a problem!
I have the RT301WA and I am satisfied with it. It is accurate to ± 0.9F and takes 5-6 seconds. It is on sale now for $19.00: http://thermoworks.com/products/low_cost/rt301wa.html The Thermopen is more accurate at ±0.7F and faster at 3 seconds but needless to say costs more. Cheers!
I have two digital thermometers...one is a thermapen. I use both on brew day to mitigate the problem you encountered. I use this one as the secondary...used to be primary: http://www.amazon.com/CDN-DTQ450X-ProAccurate-Quick-Read-Thermometer/dp/B0021AEAG2/ref=pd_sbs_k_11 Never had any issues with the CDN, but I happened to have some extra cash and bought the thermapen.
I also run dual thermometers. I have those cheap crap king kooker ones, one that does lower temps and one for higher temps, but I also got a floating one for my mash tun. It takes abit to register temps (like 5 minutes) but she is dead on every time.
I use the same thermometer, the one that came with the turkey fryer. I keep it clipped to the boil pot at all times, so every time I at least get a high side calibration check. Then I check it with the ice when I use my pre-chiller for cooling at the end. I also keep a backup digital, but thus far, the cheep turkey fryer one has worked perfectly. I started using the turkey fryer thermo when the batteries on the digital one took a dump. The dial one is actually much more convenient, and as long as it works fine, I'll keep using it.
I have a thermometer built into one of my kettles (asked for a second one for my birthday for the second kettle/HLT). I also have the turkey fryer one. I calibrate both with a glass thermometer.
I use an digital Oneida. I got pissed `cause Target wouldn't take their Taylor back after 63 days. It broke and I had to use a candy thermometer to finish off my brew day. I went to Bed Bath and Beyond. They say they'll replace their thermometer if I don't have a receipt, a box, or the packaging inside the box. <--- all requirements for Target! It takes like 10 seconds to calculate an accurate temp. It's held up for 3 years and I just ran a boiling water and an ice water test on it in August.
I have about a half dozen thermometers, and not a freakin' one of them reads the same as the others. I have 2 digital. One of them reads 25 - 30 degrees off in liquid, but is pretty close in solids, so I generally use that one when smoking. Of the others, I think only one is calibratable, but it reads fine at boiling, but at mash temp it is off. (?) I have a candy thermometer that is pretty close at mash temp, and a laser one that is pretty good. I generally use that one when heating water to see where I am, and cooling (ditto) I should invest in a couple of good ones, but haven't had the spare cash lately.
Those cheap dial thermometers are notorious for screwing up. I had one that read correctly at freezing and boiling, but was off by 10 degrees at mash temps. Never again. I now have 3 lab style alcohol filled thermometers that I check against each other, and they have all been within 2 degrees. The good thing about those is that the fluid inside will never change properties, so you calibrate once, and they stay the same after that. Not true with the metal spring types. The lab thermometers are about 6 bucks each. The only downside is that it takes about 60 secs to stabilize. Not really an issue for me though. Thermapen is the digital caddy of thermometers, but a little cost prohibitive for me.
