dmbsteve

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Other than the obvious essentials - mash tun, big pot & propane burner - an accurate thermometer should also be at the top of the list for must-have's when brewing all-grain. I learned this the hard way.

I have two dial thermometers. I assumed both were accurate, so I have used both interchangeably since I went to all grain a few months ago. But I discovered during my last batch, that one of my thermometers reads about 12-15 deg low. I first noticed this after I had brought my sparge water to a boil (I had left the room for a while and left the burner on high), but the thermometer was only reading about 200 deg. I don't live in the mountains or anything, so I know my water boils at 212. I then realized that my mash temp must have been way too high, because I had overshot it to begin with by a couple of degrees, and if the thermometer was reading low, then the mash temp theoretically could have been as high as 170 deg. That was a week ago and I've been worried about it ever since. The airlock bubbled for a couple of days, but didn't seem as vigorous as usual. I'm concerned that I will have very low ABV and possibly some astringent flavors. But I will let it roll and see how it tastes.

My next purchase will be an accurate thermometer, but I don't want to spend a fortune on one. Walmart and Target sell the instant read digital thermometers (like you use for meat and such) for about 10 bucks. Would one like this be OK?

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Taylor-TruTemp-Digital-Instant-Read-Thermometer/16541966

Pappers_

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For what its worth, I go low tech with a floating thermometer like this one and it works great. Accurate and convenient.

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mcaple1

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thermapen.....'nuff said!

jiggs_casey

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harbor freight, digital thermometer...

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o4_srt

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Even a cheap thermo will work as long as you have some way to calibrate it.

I've been fine using a $10 cheese thermometer calibrated at mash temps using lab grade instruments at my job.

Even the expensive thermos need calibrated every now and then. Unfortunately, the only way for most to accomplish this is to send it out to the manufacturer, or find a local calibrations company.

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Facebite Brewing

Conditioning: Muddy Paw Nut Brown Ale, Jump The Fence Independence Cream Ale

rico567

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THIS. When I went AG, I had read enough threads on this forum to convince me I didn't want any bargain digital thermometers. I got a Thermapen, an have never looked back. It's also useful in other applications (I bake a lot), and is worth the $100 just because of how fast it delivers an accurate reading.

The closest analogy is optics, where you just -can't- get results with cheap glass. Get a $75 set of cheap no-name binoculars. Then pick up a $250 Pentax binocular- you will go "wow." Then pick up some $1000 Steiners, you will think you're looking at another world.

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“Malt does more than Milton can / To justify God’s ways to man”

-A. E. Housman (1859–1936). A Shropshire Lad , 1896.

RCCOLA

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I use one of these--$5 http://morebeer.com/view_product/18677//12_inch_Glass_Thermometer

You can calibrate to 3 points at home:

Ice water= 32F

Against Oral thermometer@ 100F

Boiling corrected for altitude= 212 sea level ~ 209 for me at 1400 feet

Ace_Club

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I'd recommend anything by Thermoworks. I went with this one:



I got it from Amazon for ~$25 and it works great. It's much cheaper than a Thermapen, but made by the same company so the quality is still there.

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flabyboy

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this is not accurate enough, especially when 5 degrees can make a big difference in your mash

ryan83

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