Aha! Mystery solved! I knew it had to be simple....
I received the box today and the first thing I did was to look at the thermowell. Duh!...the tube is sealed at the end. For some unknown reason, I thought it was a hollow tube open at the end that the thermometer protruded through into the beer!
Never underestimate the power of assumptions!
The only thing missing was a lid gasket. It wasn't in the box, and wasn't in the lid. FastTrack customer service was very cool - they'll be sending me a gasket posthaste.
So for now, I'm having fun x-acto-ing away the mold flash, and sanding the top of the fermenter to make sure I get a good seal when the gasket arrives.
I received the box today and the first thing I did was to look at the thermowell. Duh!...the tube is sealed at the end. For some unknown reason, I thought it was a hollow tube open at the end that the thermometer protruded through into the beer!
Never underestimate the power of assumptions!
The only thing missing was a lid gasket. It wasn't in the box, and wasn't in the lid. FastTrack customer service was very cool - they'll be sending me a gasket posthaste.
So for now, I'm having fun x-acto-ing away the mold flash, and sanding the top of the fermenter to make sure I get a good seal when the gasket arrives.