Brew day disaster...

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Duckfoot

Duckfoot

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After getting my AHS Vanilla Porter and making sure all was well, I went ahead today and started up my batch....

Everything was awesome... No boilover for once and the new recirculating chiller pump worked like a champ...

All is well one might think....

That is until I started putting the batch into the carboy.... Noticed on the last bit that went through the strainer that there was a weird metallic sound... Stopped pouring immediately and noticed some small metal pellets in the batch... Turns out that my floating thermometer apparently was cracked at some point and finally let go in the boiling process...

Assuming this stuff is lead, I went ahead and dumped the batch to err on the side of safety...

I am not happy.... :mad:

Lesson learned.... NO MORE FLOATING THERMOMETERS....

Just gives me an excuse to buy a few digital / bi-metal ones...

Hope everyone else is having a better day...

:mug:
 
Sorry for your loss. In case it happens again, RDWHAHB, and check out this bit of googling I did:

From http://www.hbd.org/hbd/archive/1923.html#1923-12
>I recently brewed a batch of IPA, during which my glass thermometer broke
>after hitting the wort chiller. The thermometer was a Brewers Best floating
>thermometer (the kind with the metal beads in the base to balance it.)
>The part with the alcohol didn't break, however, the outer shell did and
>all of the little metal beads spilled into the wort. Does anyone know if
>these beads are made of lead? If so, is my beer ruined or is the
>amount to small? I was successful in removing almost all of them,
>but I'm sure some made their way into the primary. The temp
>when the thermometer broke was somewhere around 150!F.


I did much the same thing...or rather my brew partner did. In our case the
metal beeads and some of the wax got into the kettle. I strained the wort
after boiling. I *think* I got some/most of the beads. Certainly some of the
wax was lost into the batch. I noticed no unusual flavors and I had seen no
ill affects. So I would think theat you have nothing to worry about.
Click to expand...
 
I brewed last night and found out my thermometer had lost about an inch. It was at the very top and just glass though, no lead or mercury here, so I used it anyway, but now I gotta buy a new one.
 
Can I just ask, what's the reason for having a thermometer in the wort during the boil anyway? Hell, I can tell you hot the wort is!
 
Suspected my digital thermometer was on the fritz... was reading 206* on boil... Then I had it in the wort when starting my chilling process...

Prolly just stupidity on my part for the whole thing...

:)
 
yeah, i did that a couple times but it always scared me. just sanitize a thermometer and throw it in after you've cooled to ensure your temperature is good.

i have a laser temp reader that reads well with surface temp...usually reads a few degrees higher than the actual wort, but that works out perfect anyway.
 
Most float thermometers use steel shot for the weight. I would be less concerned with lead then with tiny slivers of broken glass that can easily be floated with a CO2 bubble. A batch of beer isn't worth ingesting glass or the required surgery to remove it. You made the right choice by dumping it. As the_bird said, if its boiling you know what temp it is, no matter what the digital thermometer read. I wouldn't say it was a thing of stupidity, just wasn't thought out entirely. The good news is now you don't have a glass thermometer so it shouldn't happen again. I'm sure your next batch will turn out great.
 
phissionkorps said:
No you don't, unless it's pure water or you're magic.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boiling-point_elevation
The boiling point may be considerably different when you're talking about say, 9lbs of extract in 3 gallons of water.
Click to expand...
For you engineering chemists it may be different, for me, big beer or small, partial boil or full boil, the temp remains within the tolerance of the thermometer (2 degrees). So once again, if its boiling I know what temp it is. Which makes my guess accurate to within 2 degrees. If you want to quibble about decimal points then I don't know, and don't really care. The only time in brewing less than 2 degrees might make a difference is during the mash and you would have to be a far better beer judge than anyone I know to tell the difference of less then 2 degrees in mash temp. My thermometer is altitude corrected because it reads 212* boiling and the boil point at my altitude is 208*. So now I have a question for you. Since boil point changes with altitude(and of course specific gravity) should mash temps be adjusted to compensate?

Edit: Its pure magic.:D
 
Actually, the difference will be much more than "decimal points". I don't have the time to do the calculations, but if you do them yourself you'll see there is a much greater difference between the boiling point of wort and that of water.

What is the point of telling me your thermometer is accurate to within 2 degrees? The statement was made that if wort is boiling, you know it's temperature (the boiling point of water), so I countered with the fact that that is a false claim.

I think you may have missed my point?

Since boil point changes with altitude(and of course specific gravity) should mash temps be adjusted to compensate?
Click to expand...
Couldn't tell you. I don't have the time, money, or space for AG atm.
 
I would have taken a few of the balls out and hit them with a hammer or took a torch to them. If the hammer crushed them fairly easily then it is probably lead, if it did not crush them easily then I would have taken a torch to them and saw if they melted. Propane in a regular environment wont melt most steel but will easily melt lead.
 
phissionkorps said:
Actually, the difference will be much more than "decimal points". I don't have the time to do the calculations, but if you do them yourself you'll see there is a much greater difference between the boiling point of wort and that of water.

What is the point of telling me your thermometer is accurate to within 2 degrees? The statement was made that if wort is boiling, you know it's temperature (the boiling point of water), so I countered with the fact that that is a false claim.

I think you may have missed my point?


Couldn't tell you. I don't have the time, money, or space for AG atm.
Click to expand...

Point it, it's irrelevant. Once it's at the boil, that's all that matters. There's no need to know whether it's 212° or 208° or whatever, it's boiling! The times when you NEED to know temp are when you're mashing or steeping and when you're chilling the wort; from the time you start bringing the wort to boil until the time you killt he flame, you can safely take the thermometer out of the kettle and not lose one iota of useful information.
 

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