Temps - Boil and wort chilling

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eighteez

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I am getting ready to do my first brew.

Question. The 155 degree temp when boiling and the under 90 temp for cooling the wort...

How is this measured? Meaning, how do you all recommend doing it?

My kit came with a stick on tape like thermometer.. I dont see how I can use this for boiling and cooling the wort though. Since it'll still be in the 7.5 gal pot for those steps... (immersion chiller will be used)

I imagine I'll use that stick on thermometer for the carboy while the brew is in 2nd stage fermenting in my basement... I havent really thought that far ahead yet...

What do you guys use and how do you do these initial temp readings?
 
The sticky thermo is for your carboy. A regular kitchen/meat thermometer will get you by if your doing extracts. When doing all-grain temperatures need to be more precise. I use a digital calibratable thermometer for that.
 
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I know 155 isn't boiling, I was reading something that had a step happen at 155... Adding something... so that made me wonder, how do I know when its at 155? I need a thermometer... what kind? The only thermometer I've ever used I stuck in my daughters mouth or ear....
 
Hit the hitchen gadget section of wally world or target and pick one up. You can get a meat thermometer with the needle and dial or an inexpensive digital model that will be a little more accurate. I used the former for a few batches and it worked fine until I got a digital one.

These are cheap and worked for me at first:
4508428.jpg


Then I got one kinda like this:
074150.jpg


Some folks on here go even fancier. Just depends oh how much you want to spend. A simple one will only run you a few bucks. My digital was around 10-15 bucks I think.
 
I know 155 isn't boiling, I was reading something that had a step happen at 155... Adding something... so that made me wonder, how do I know when its at 155? I need a thermometer... what kind? The only thermometer I've ever used I stuck in my daughters mouth or ear....

A candy thermometer will do, as long as you can clearly see the "150-160" range.

That area of 155 is the temperature used for steeping the grains. After steeping, the grains are moved and the resulting liquid brought up to a boil. In order to not have problems, you need to remove the grains at no higher than 170 degrees. As long as you have a thermometer for cooking that shows that area, you'd be fine. They're like $10 or less at Wal-mart or other stores like that.
 
Gotcha. I knew there was a 155 for something important. :)

Thanks gang!!!!!
 
I imagine I'll use that stick on thermometer for the carboy while the brew is in 2nd stage fermenting in my basement... I havent really thought that far ahead yet...
Use the stick on thermometer for the Primary Fermentor. Most yeasts work best between 55 & 70 degrees. The temperature isn't as important during the secondary stage.
 
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