Adhesive Liquid Thermometer Problems

[HuggerOrange]

Can anyone tell me what the deal is with these. I bought a starter equipment kit from Midwest and brewed my first homebrew today. Everything went really well except for the fact that I don't think the thermometer that came in the kit works. I stuck it on the side of the fermenter about half way down but I am yet to see a reading. At first I feared that the wort was too warm to register (it goes up to 80) but it's 4 hours later and everything has cooled to room temp and still nothing. The only sign I have that the temp is ok is the airlock is bubbling already. Has anyone else had problems with these? Did I do something wrong? Any help/advise is appreciated.

 

[FlyGuy]

How LOW does it go? Maybe you are below.

I got one with my first kit, but it was meant for wine and didn't read much below 70 degrees.

 

[Professor Frink]

I don't trust those stick on thermometers, the carboy glass is pretty thick and I doubt that it really represents the temperature of the beer. So many times I've had a fermentation going where the thermometer says it's over 80 degrees, but still come out fine.

 

[david_42]

Put your hand over the strip for two minutes & see if it indicates. Moisture can kill them.

 

[Funkenjaeger]

Put your hand over the strip for two minutes & see if it indicates. Moisture can kill them.

Along the same lines, if you still don't see anything, try wiping the strip with something cold, maybe an ice cube - it may just be warmer than you think, off the top of the scale.

When you initially posted, you said it had been 4 hours and that it had come to room temperature... however, in my experience, 4 hours is not enough time for 5 gallons of beer to reach room temp, especially in a bucket, which doesn't conduct heat all that well. Granted, it's now been a lot more than 4 hours, so maybe things have changed.

 

[HuggerOrange]

I think it's going now - maybe the top end doesn't work. When I went to take a look this morning it read 72, which actually suprised me since it's on a cool basement floor. But maybe I'm also not realizing how long it takes for 5 gal to cool like evandude said. When I poured the 2 gal of wort in the 3 gal of cold water it was at around 85 so I figured mixing the two would take the temp down to atleast 80. I think what it comes down to is you can't really rely on these type of thermometers to be terribly accurate. Anyway, the airlock is bubbling away which I'm hoping is a good sign. Thanks for everyones help.

 

[Buford]

It can take forever for 5 gallons of wort in a plastic bucket to cool. It takes all night for 80 degree wort in my fermenter bucket to drop below 68 even with it sitting in cold water in my bathtub.

 

[xt-lee]

That's because the water is not moving. The water around the bucket becomes warmer than the rest in the tub. If you moved the water around, it would cool much faster because all the cool water in the tub would come in contact with the bucket. I cool a 3 gallon of boiling 100 degree wort down to 70 in 15 - 20 mins....

 

[FlyingHorse]

I cool a 3 gallon of boiling 100 degree wort down to 70 in 15 - 20 mins....

Welcome to Stratosphere Brewing...our wort boils at 100F !

 

[xt-lee]

OOps, I mean 212! I was thinking in Celsius since I am Canadian ehy! Blasted metric system!

 

[malkore]

also remember that fermenting beer creates some heat as the yeast 'works out' on the sugars in the wort.

if its only down to 72 the next morning, I suspect the bulk of the wort was over 80F yesterday when you pitched the yeast.

 

[HuggerOrange]

I've read that can mess up the taste. Also, it stopped fermenting at about the 48hr. point - which I know can happen - but the airlock was bubbling like mad when it was around 72. My hope is that when the wort was warm it didn't make the yeast ferment too quickly and now that it's cooler - 68 - it's too late and I'm left with a crappy beer. What do you think? This is my first batch so I guess if nothing else it's a learning experience!