scubadan
Member
Last night I brewed my first batch of beer. While cooling the wort and measuring the temperature, the tip of the floating thermometer hit my spoon and snapped off. The wort had almost reached the temperature I wanted to pitch my yeast into so I went ahead and carefully poured the wort into the carboy. I figured the glass would sink to the bottom of the pot and I just didn't pour out the last few ounces of wort. In the remaining wort, I found the glass tip and a couple dozen of the steel shot from the bottom of the thermometer. I am fairly certain that none of the glass or shot transferred to the carboy.
I then quickly jumped on this site to see what I could find. I found several threads discussing the subject with about a 50/50 mix of responses on whether to keep the beer or throw it out. For those deciding to keep the batch brewing, it was suggested to use a paint straining bag when I bottle from my primary. I'm going to try to keep mine and will stay well off the bottom when I bottle. After reading these threads I still have a few questions:
1. Which end of my racking cane will I attach the straining bag and what should I use to attach it?
2. I am assuming I will need to sanitize the bag before I use it?
3. After reading through the other threads I've learned the lesson regarding how careless I was and that there are options other than the glass floating thermometer. What do you think of this one as a replacement http://www.northernbrewer.com/brewing/brewing-equipment/testing-measuring/thermometers/proaccurate-digital-thermometer.html?
4. I heard the horror stories and the discussion on whether to keep it or throw it out but I didn't read any follow-up stories on what the results were. I'm assuming no one ended up in the hospital with shredded intestines but just wondered how these stories ended.
I then quickly jumped on this site to see what I could find. I found several threads discussing the subject with about a 50/50 mix of responses on whether to keep the beer or throw it out. For those deciding to keep the batch brewing, it was suggested to use a paint straining bag when I bottle from my primary. I'm going to try to keep mine and will stay well off the bottom when I bottle. After reading these threads I still have a few questions:
1. Which end of my racking cane will I attach the straining bag and what should I use to attach it?
2. I am assuming I will need to sanitize the bag before I use it?
3. After reading through the other threads I've learned the lesson regarding how careless I was and that there are options other than the glass floating thermometer. What do you think of this one as a replacement http://www.northernbrewer.com/brewing/brewing-equipment/testing-measuring/thermometers/proaccurate-digital-thermometer.html?
4. I heard the horror stories and the discussion on whether to keep it or throw it out but I didn't read any follow-up stories on what the results were. I'm assuming no one ended up in the hospital with shredded intestines but just wondered how these stories ended.
Glass is more dense than water and beer so it would sink to the bottom unless disturbed. Also, in the fermenter the glass should be buried underneath the yeast cake so I tried not to disturb it too much.
