Mash water temperature alarm?

Lately I've been trying to cut my brew day down to the absolute minimum possible. I've got a baby due in October, and I don't know how much time I'm going to have to devote to brewing after that. I feel like if I can cut my brew days down to 3 hours or less, I can probably squeeze in some very early sunday morning brews where I get up before anyone is awake and knock it out before I'm even missed by mommy and baby.

I don't have a lot of time to prepare, but my next few brews are going to be experiments with 30 minute mashes and boils to see what I can get away with. That takes down a solid hour right off the top, but I've got to see how much multitasking I can fit in as well to shorten the busywork in between. I've come to realize that one thing that would really help me out is to have some way to know when my mash water is approaching my mash temp without having to drop what I'm doing and go check it with a thermometer. If I can confidently work on whatever other preparations I need to do without worrying that I'm going to massively overshoot my mash temp and thus waste a lot of time waiting for it to cool back down I think I can get more done.

In short, is there some kind of device that I can use to set my target temperature and have it beep or buzz or otherwise notify me when that temperature is being approached? I brew using a simple outdoor propane burner, so I won't be right next to it to read a temperature gauge while I'm inside doing other busywork. I specifically need an auditory notification. Does something like that exist?

 

I saw this at Homebrew con, https://www.blichmannengineering.com/products/brewvision/thermometer

 

That looks amazing! I'm not sure I need a solution that quite that high tech though. I'm also not sure I'm confident in my ability to drill a hole in my kettle. That's still one of the coolest things I've seen lol.

 

https://www.hubert.ca/product/43565...MI96KDz4Pz1QIVh7bACh2E-QOmEAQYAyABEgIxAfD_BwE

You can buy this product at most walmarts. It has a temp alarm. Not a bad thermometer too.

 

The chef alarm from the Thermapen folks has a high and low alarm so you can get buzzed as it approaches strike, then for boil, then as it's cooling if you want alarm to shut off a water supply and switch to recirculation or whatnot.

 

Heck, if you had an Inkbird you could set it up to do that. Inkbirds have a high and low temp alarm and their maximum temp is well below a mash temperature.

Just a thought. The other options above are probably better for a dedicated use, but if you had an inkbird that might save you the cost.

 

Thinking of your question. I just bought this one on Ebay. Should let me know when my strike water is up to temp. Can put it in for mash. Might be too simple for what you are looking for.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Digital-BBQ...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

 

I'd second the chefalarm. Works great for brewing and also for cooking.

 

Congrats! My son just turned 7 mos. The same motivation gave me the push to jump into kegging.

These work and you can pick them up from Amazon for cheap as well. It worked as a good proof of concept for me until the probe connections got loose like a cheap pair of head phones. It takes a reading if I hold the wires in just the right position. I use it let me know when mash water is ready and also when I'm getting close to boil (set it at 210F)

I've got the Thrermoworks Chefalarm on my list of equipment to buy. It not only has the high alarm to go off when water reaches strike temp, but also a low alarm so it could be set when it is cooled to desired temps. I fill a 50 qt cooler with ice from work and just recirculate water with a pond pump while I clean and put everything away.

 

I have a thermoworks Chef alarm for this and it works great! It has high and low alarm so you can use it to monitor mash temperature too to keep it from dropping too low. You just have to get the waterproof needle probe add on. The nice thing is your wife can us it for cooking too so she will let you buy it.
http://www.thermoworks.com/ChefAlarm

For a little more money I would get the Thermoworks Smoke (they didn't have this when I got my chef alarm). It has the same features except includes a wireless piece you can keep with you so you don't have to be in ears shot when you hit a temp. You can also get a wifi doggle for the Smoke so that you can monitor on your phone. Not sure this is useful for brewing but for BBQ or would be great.
http://www.thermoworks.com/Smoke
The other cool things is that you can buy replacement probes when one goes bad. A Walmart temp Guage can't do that.

 

Perfect! I looked really hard at the chefalarm, but the extra connectivity of the smoke sealed it. Thanks!

 

Rather than trying to shorten your brew session, it can be very time efficient to break it up into several short sessions over 24-36 hours.

1. Crush grain and prep
2. Mash in and go to bed
3. Boil the following day
4. No chill-passive chill
5. Pitch yeast

Brewing does not need to be as rigid a process as most practice.

While it may be difficult to find 3-4 hours of free time, broken into mini sessions can work well for some.

 

I like this idea. Is there any souring or other ill affect to mashing overnight?

 

Your mash should be in the range where pasteurization occurs so you have no active bacteria when the mash is done. Putting a lid on the mash tun keeps most bacteria out and it takes longer than overnight for colonies to establish and grow so you shouldn't have any souring. The enzymes that do the conversion cannot survive in mash temps for long either so the mash is a self limiting activity. People who have done overnight mashing will confirm this.

 

Sounds like what I need. Devoting a big block of time to any one activity is pretty tough for me. However, breaking it up into smaller blocks of active time makes things much more approachable more often.

 

Well for products like milk, 145 F for 30 minutes seems to be standard for pasteurization. The mash should be above 145F for more than 30 minutes if I mash in at 150F. I guess theoretically it should be pasteurized and safe to leave so long as nothing gets into it after the temp drops below a certain amount.

That certainly seems like an option if my truncated brews don't work out. I just like the idea of getting it done under the cover of the early morning darkness like a brewing ninja I guess.

 

Many posts on overnight mashing, souring doesn't seem to be reported. Some report slightly more fermentable wort but raising mash temp slightly seems to avert this. Sometimes this is desirable for some styles.