Is It Drinkable or Should I Pitch It?

While whirlpooling an all-grain IPA after the boil I inadvertently left the floating thermometer in. Once everything settled I noticed that the thermometer was floating on its side and that I had broken it. Looking closer I realized that I only broke the outside glass and did not actually rupture the thermometer inside (i.e. hopefully no mercury escaped). Thinking that all I needed to do was strain out any glass as well as the little BBs (weights?) from the thermometer I continued on and strained everything out before putting it into the fermenter.

The beer has fermented and been kegged for several weeks but will not clear. I am now wondering what the BBs are made of and whether I should just pitch the whole batch? It doesn't taste bad, but I don't want to lead poison myself and others unnecessarily. Your thoughts?

Poison, bird sh*t, and broken glass are the three things that would cause me to dump a batch.

There are a few threads here about broken hydrometers in the wort and how it's near impossible to strain all the broken bits out. Some might be more gutsy than me, but it it were mine, I wouldn't risk it. Bummer.

Yeah well that's a real b1tch. I don't think I'd risk it either. The thermometer is most likely made in China so it could be anything. I'd probably at least try to check with the manufacturer though.

Prison movies show crushing glass to powder and putting it in food to kill people from the inside, made me decide that I don't want to consume anything with broken glass in it. Even if it doesn't have a lot of glass, I think anything that can cause micro-cuts on your intestines can cause infections.

I had a shard of glass pierce the soft pallet of my mouth because of a bottle that was opened improperly at a restaurant... had that made its way down my throat any further it would have been a hospital visit. Had it found its way to my intestines, it would have been pure hell.

I would think it's possible to use sub-micron filters to remove anything that could harm you, but I have no idea how small you'd have to go to eliminate the risk.

ShakyD said:

Looking closer I realized that I only broke the outside glass and did not actually rupture the thermometer inside (i.e. hopefully no mercury escaped).

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I doubt it was mercury as those are hard to come by anymore. Unless the liquid was silver it was likely dyed mineral spirits out alcohol. At least you can rule that out as a poisonous contaminant. Although, I probably wouldn't want to ingest mineral spirits either...

Would filtering before kegging/bottling remove the glass?

Beezer94 said:

Prison movies show crushing glass to powder and putting it in food to kill people from the inside, made me decide that I don't want to consume anything with broken glass in it. Even if it doesn't have a lot of glass, I think anything that can cause micro-cuts on your intestines can cause infections.

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And here I was mainly concerned with lead or some other kind of poisoning. I assumed that I had strained all of the glass out of it, but the images of some of these scenarios is a little scary. I think I am going to dump it and brew a new batch this weekend.

This is going to hurt

If you left an inch or two in the primary fermenter when you siphon, I'd not be too worried about the glass, use a cap on your racking cane too, so it's sucking from above and not below. It's going to settle out real quickly after fermentation is over.

Agreed don't dump the whole thing...leave a gallon or even two if you're feeling real nervous, glass is pretty heavy compared to beer, keep your racking cane a few inches from the trub and enjoy your beer a few weeks later.

Agreed, glass sinks. It would be best if it wasn't carbed as that will make things flop around more.

I'm also not that scared of glass, I've ingested more than my share of it over the years. I don't want to push anyone to take any risks, but if you think you can leave the bottom gal undisturbed you should be okay.
The pellets were likely not lead, if you still have any you can test this (or you can buy the same one and break it open for experimenting). Just try to crush one with pliers. If it crushes, it's lead, if it holds it's form it's not.
As for the other junk in there, I can't say. That's what I'd be scared of.

You could get a lead paint test kit.. It might tell you if the pellets are lead. I don't know if it would work with the beer itself.

I did the same thing with a floating thermometer with BB's in the bottom while cooling my wort a few months back. Mercury was still in the thermometer portion, just the housing (glass) and the BB's were in my wort.

I use a strainer/funnel to filter before putting in the carboy and when all was said and done most of the BB's were left in the boiling kettle.

Don't sweat it! My beer turned out exceptional with no off flavors what so ever. (LH Milk Stout Clone from this site/4 week primary at ~65)

just dump it.

Dump it. The BB's are lead.

More importantly, buy a thermometer made of metal.

The price of a batch of beer is cheap compared to the cost of going to the ER.

Be safe!

Run it through a 5 micron filter and lead bloc water filter and RDWHAHB. I'm pretty sure most thermometers don't use mercury anymore. If it's a red dyed liquid material it's alcohol or light oil. I also doubt the bb's in the bottom were in contact long enough to cause issue. After all, all fishing tackle is known to cause cancer only to people in California.

flananuts said:

Run it through a 5 micron filter and lead bloc water filter and RDWHAHB. I'm pretty sure most thermometers don't use mercury anymore. If it's a red dyed liquid material it's alcohol or light oil. I also doubt the bb's in the bottom were in contact long enough to cause issue. After all, all fishing tackle is known to cause cancer only to people in California.

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You forgot everything in a car, the packaging of food, and the interiors of most restaurants.

I'd rack as far up as I felt comfortable with and relax. Glass wont be stirred up unless you stir it up. As with every situation though, your mileage may vary. Take caution.

Thermometers do not contain mercury anymore. They use alcohol in it's place so mercury poisoning is not an issue.

However, in my opinion, I think you're making the right move. I wouldn't risk it either. I'd dump it and call it a learning experience.