My floating thermometer busted in my mash

Quick question, my floating thermometer broke in my mash and the little balls are loose in there. I BIAB so they should all come out when I pull my bag. Anyone know if there are any untowards side effects from these little balls of joy? Either to the brew or one who ingests said brew? Thanx!!

chetduggan said:

Quick question, my floating thermometer broke in my mash and the little balls are loose in there. I BIAB so they should all come out when I pull my bag. Anyone know if there are any untowards side effects from these little balls of joy? Either to the brew or one who ingests said brew? Thanx!!

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Had this happen. No untoward effects. The little balls if I remember correctly are stainless steel. These thermometers have no mercury, so no worries.

If you wanted to be super safe, feel free to ditch the batch and start over. There are several links on here related to this. I'd bet you're fine.

Yeah I just had this happen to me during my last batch, only it was during the boil process (I know, why keep a thermometer in there? I learned my lesson). Once it happened I just quickly poured the batch in my sanitized primary through a strainer to get the balls and shards of glass out of it. I then poured it back into the pot and continuted my boil. We'll see what happens. But from the posts I read on here about this, it shouldn't be a problem as long as you removed the pieces.

Thanx guys!! Pa49, how do you get away with being a 49r fan in pa? Prob the same way I get away with being a Raider fan in Fl. Thanks for responding. This site is too cool!!!! Prost

chetduggan said:

Thanx guys!! Pa49, how do you get away with being a 49r fan in pa? Prob the same way I get away with being a Raider fan in Fl. Thanks for responding. This site is too cool!!!! Prost

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I wouldn't say I get away with it, but this past season has been pretty sweet after the Dream Team.....errr the Eagles failed to make the playoffs. I'd ask how you get away with being a Raiders fan in general, but I'll be nice.

Ugh. This happened to me during the chilling process once. My brewing partner and I were doing it the hard way - ice bath and stirring hard. Apparently I bumped the thermometer with the spoon.

We toyed with straining the wort but ended up dumping it. We were more concerned about glass particles than anything else. We just couldn't be sure we had gotten them all out.

PA49erFan21 said:

Yeah I just had this happen to me during my last batch, only it was during the boil process (I know, why keep a thermometer in there? I learned my lesson). Once it happened I just quickly poured the batch in my sanitized primary through a strainer to get the balls and shards of glass out of it. I then poured it back into the pot and continuted my boil. We'll see what happens. But from the posts I read on here about this, it shouldn't be a problem as long as you removed the pieces.

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This just happened to me, floating thermometer broke in the mash. I am going to continue brewing it since the actual thermometer didnt break, just the outside layer of glass. It was a small hole. I strain my wort several times throughout the mashh, sparge, and at the end before transfering the chilled wort ito the ferm bucket. I will be able to see if any of the balls get through, but I doubt it since I use a very fine strainer, and if any pices of glass are in there small enought to get through the strainer they will be so small that they will be harmless and probably wont get sucked up during the transfer to ferm. also, if you spiphon your wort from your kettle, and leave the bottom, then the galls will likely have settled to the bottom and not get transferred.

It seems to me that the manufacturers probably designed the thermometer so that if it does break, the actual thermometer on the inside is shielded. the steel balls are also harmless but are necessary to conduct the temp