Thermometer broke, should I drink this??

[Garyblueberry]

Hey all, my floating thermometer broke during sparging, it was the tip where I think the lead balls are. My question is: do you think I should keep brewing? Or stop/scratch the batch due to fear of lead poisoning??

 

[JonM]

I have a list of three things that will make me dump a batch:

1) Poisons
2) Bird s**t
3) Broken glass

This situation looks like it fits two of three.

 

[Garyblueberry]

Haha thank you jonm, cancelling batch. And laughing haha

 

[IslandLizard]

Glass and those steel pellets can be easily filtered out.

 

[BeeRRunBrewery]

I agree with IslandLizard and it personally happened to me a few years back. Just double check on what the metal "pellets" are, but more than likely its non poisonous. Just filter, and continue on!

 

[IslandLizard]

Here's a thread I dug up on broken thermometers. Homebrewtalk is referenced 3x in that too.

In short, those tiny balls stick to a magnet so they're iron/steel and not lead.

 

[GHBWNY]

In short, those tiny balls stick to a magnet so they're iron/steel and not lead.

Exactly. The chunk of glass is the only issue.

 

[IslandLizard]

Exactly. The chunk of glass is the only issue.

Use a fine mesh hop bag (~200 micron openings), a piece of finely woven muslin or fabric, or a doubled up nylon stocking* to strain the wort through after lautering, before adding it to your boil kettle.

* Support the stocking by laying it in a colander or sieve to prevent it from stretching.

 

[hobomoto]

I would imagine any glass, if it made it to the fermenter, would just sink to the bottom and end up trapped in the trub... which you're going to rack off anyway.

 

[Jaybird]

Personally I am with @JonM with this one. I know your pellets are steel but there is no reason to risk the broken glass IMHO. I would have just tossed it and called it a day. But to each is own.

Good luck with it.

Cheers
Jay

 

[TravelingLight]

I noticed my floaty thermo broke the tip off during sparge when I brewed last weekend. Pretty sure I hit it stirring, making the ******* mistake of not removing it when I stirred. Oh well. Didn't stop me from continuing my brew day as usual. Stout is fermenting away. Ain't too worried. Not worried at all, really.

 

[Queequeg]

+1 to filter.
+1 to will sink in trub anyway

also use a carbonation stone = 0.2 micron filter at serving

= risk neglible