33 replies to this topic

[Spoon]

I will also mention this: The guy at my LHBS told me that the glass lab thermos are probably the most accurate, but also the most fragile. I got one and in my clumsiness, I allowed it to make contact with an O2 canister. The small deelybob on the top (a glass ring?) broke off but the rest of the thermo was intact. But it suddenly started with crazy readings so I picked up another one. After a couple of uses, the red liquid inside started "breaking apart" as someone else mentioned. There was a long line of red, then a small space, then more red, then more space, then a dot of red. Sorry... no confidence there.

The separation is typical with ASTM themos regardless if they are mercury or spirit. Simply shake them down. I used to cringe when I had to shake down LONG ones. Just too much glass to be swinging Traceables are more accurate but they still require re-certification over a span of time.

[BlKtRe]

Wonder why of all the years Ive used glass lab thermos Ive never had separation? Just lucky I suppose.

[mikebrad]

This is timely because I just went through this. I ended up getting a THERMAPEN. Yes, it's $100. It takes the temp of anything in about 3 seconds. I have 2 probe thermos, 2 crappy digitals and 2 glass lab thermos and they are all over the place. None of them can agree. I finally came to the conclusion that you cannot possibly know the difference between 150° and 152° when your 6 thermometers can't agree. I tried calibrating them, etc. but I think you just get what you pay for. One of my glass lab thermos was $8 and the other was $5. One of my probes was $9 and the other was $12. I have used this thing on 8-10 batches now and it's fantastic. Place the probe in your mash and *BIP*... a good, clean read. Yes, I swallowed hard about the price, but I am much more confident with this instrument. Cheers.Ps. A lot of the local brewers here use this thermometer and they're very happy with it. No, I don't work for THERMAPEN.

Mine arrived today. It is a bit more substantial than I was expecting and the probe is plenty long enough. Stuck it in ice bath and it was 32.1. Stuck it under my tongue and it was 98.6 (kinda hard to see the number though...lol). I'll be mashing with it on Saturday.

[Big Nake]

Mine arrived today. It is a bit more substantial than I was expecting and the probe is plenty long enough. Stuck it in ice bath and it was 32.1. Stuck it under my tongue and it was 98.6 (kinda hard to see the number though...lol). I'll be mashing with it on Saturday.

Nice. It's a beautiful measuring instrument and I have all the confidence in the world in this thermometer. Cheers.

[brewguy]

Laser thermometerThis has worked pretty well for me. I still double check with my digital to make sure tho.

How do you like using the non-contact? You said you still double check with the digital. Do you notice a difference between the two? Harbor Freight has these on sale for $26.

[jammer]

How do you like using the non-contact? You said you still double check with the digital. Do you notice a difference between the two? Harbor Freight has these on sale for $26.

I love it. The only thing you have to be careful of is checking a highly reflective surface, such as a boil pot. I just dip my stirring spoon in the water and shoot the temp on the spoon instead of the shiny metal of the pot. Sometimes ill be checking temp of my wort and it just doesnt seem right. But whenever I double check with my instant read digital, it confirms what the laser just told me. The more I use it, the more I trust it.

[BarelyBrews]

I panicked about temp for a time.I had different readings on three different thermometers.Mash temp can vary on my set-up usually around 2 degrees.I settled on my Metal Probe thermometer.I tested it in my lab at work and it was accurate.I don't lose sleep on temp readings anymore.

[OhioMurb]

Just ruined a brew day because of a glass thermometer. 10 minutes left in the boil of what was a PERFECT brew day (hit my numbers, drank good beer, beautiful day) and suddenly noticed that my thermometer was floating funny.Crap. It must have smacked against the side and broke.The stupid thing is that I didn't care about the temp at that point - I was lazy and had just left it in the kettle.5 gallons of what I'm sure was the best beer I've ever brewed down the drain.Double crap.

[BrewerGeorge]

I think it's a good point to not make yourself crazy over temp. I would throw away all but one thermometer, always use the same one and just learn to brew with it. You may not really know if your mash is 152 or 151, but you'll learn what your thermometer tells you about your system.

So much this.

Great, all this accuracy talk has got me wondering, DAMN!

Don't worry about it.

Just ruined a brew day because of a glass thermometer. 10 minutes left in the boil of what was a PERFECT brew day (hit my numbers, drank good beer, beautiful day) and suddenly noticed that my thermometer was floating funny.Crap. It must have smacked against the side and broke.The stupid thing is that I didn't care about the temp at that point - I was lazy and had just left it in the kettle.5 gallons of what I'm sure was the best beer I've ever brewed down the drain.Double crap.

Spirit thermometers are just alcohol and coloring. Won't hurt anything. Don't toss it next time.

[jayb151]

Spirit thermometers are just alcohol and coloring. Won't hurt anything. Don't toss it next time.

[jimdkc]

FWIW, I'm confident in the accuracy of thermocouples, especially in the temp ranges homebrewers are using them. I've bought/made/used enough thermocouples in my day to know that they are rarely off at moderate temps and they don't drift much, if at all. I use thermocouples for all my critical temp measurements.

This!Jim

[denny]

Mine arrived today. It is a bit more substantial than I was expecting and the probe is plenty long enough. Stuck it in ice bath and it was 32.1. Stuck it under my tongue and it was 98.6 (kinda hard to see the number though...lol). I'll be mashing with it on Saturday.

Instead of mashing with something that fragile, why not use it to calibrate a metal brewing thermometer? That's the way I do and I don't have to worry about breaking a thermometer in the mash.

[Recklessdeck]

Picked up this themometer recently and I'm quite happy with it. If these things are accurate enough for science labs, they're accurate enough for my purposes.