I'm cooling my wort, and my thermometer broke, what do I do?

[DRoyLenz]

Hey All,

I'm mid-brew right now, and my thermometer broke. I had a nice digital thermometer that was working all the way up until the end of my boil. Now it is not. Does anybody know of any ways I can tell if my wort is below the necessary yeast pitching temperature (~70F)?

Also, I'm a newb, and am not using a wort chiller. I thought an ice bath would suffice, but clearly did not have NEARLY enough ice, so now my brew kettle is sitting in the freezer. Does anybody see any problems with this?

Prompt responses will be appreciated, I don't want my wort to freeze,

 

[marubozo]

Throwing the pot in the freezer might throw this off, but generally if your pot is cool to the touch it will be somewhere in the 70s. Having been in the freezer I'm guessing that won't work since the surface of the pot could be quite different than the actual temperature of the wort.

Sticking it in the freezer isn't all that bad as long as it's covered with a hopefully sanitized lid. But liquid transfers heat MUCH more efficiently than air, so even if you don't have an ice bath, just sticking your pot in a cold tap water bath will probably cool it quicker than the freezer. Probably better off using just a cold water bath and stirring the bath water and wort (with a sanitized spoon/paddle) frequently and change the water in the bath regularly until it gets down to temp.

 

[stevea1210]

I know this doesn't help now, but next homebrew order get one of those $2 stick on thermometers for your fermenter. It is a built in back up.

 

[DRoyLenz]

I actually just realized that I received one of those in my kit. So I stuck it on my fermenter and poured the wort into the fermenter, and am just waiting for the green marker to allow me to add the yeast.

Being my first batch, I can't understand how you guys wait to find out how your batch turned out? I'm racked with suspense right now.

 

[marubozo]

Having patience is hard for sure. I only started home brewing early this month and while I have multiple brews going right now, I'm just going to be bottling my first one tomorrow. Then I STILL have about 3 more weeks to go before I know how everything really turned out.

It's brutal for sure. I'm just soaking up a lot of good microbrew while absorbing every bit of information I can get and hope that my patience pays off. But yeah, it's tough to wait 6-8 weeks just to find out if that 1 hour of boiling you did ended up making something awesome or not.

 

[Benjibbad]

I actually just realized that I received one of those in my kit. So I stuck it on my fermenter and poured the wort into the fermenter, and am just waiting for the green marker to allow me to add the yeast.

Being my first batch, I can't understand how you guys wait to find out how your batch turned out? I'm racked with suspense right now.

Well, the key is to have plenty in the pipe line so you always have a few brews waiting for you. The first one is always the hardest.

 

[brian_g]

I actually just realized that I received one of those in my kit. So I stuck it on my fermenter and poured the wort into the fermenter, and am just waiting for the green marker to allow me to add the yeast.

Being my first batch, I can't understand how you guys wait to find out how your batch turned out? I'm racked with suspense right now.

I don't think you can wait. You'll try to wait the three weeks of bottle conditioning, but then you'll cheat and pop a bottle open at 9 days and it will taste like crap. That's what I did, anyway. I still cheat sometimes. It's hard to wait.

 

[borracho_brewer]

I definitely did this yesterday when I brewed up a summer blonde ale. Thermometer rolled and dropped right off the counter mid-boil. I had plenty of ice on hand so cooling wasn't a problem, plus i put my top off water in the freezer and got that down to almost freezing. I think my wort was actually colder than it should have been but oh well, it took off within 24 hours after pitching some US-05.


First one is the hardest for sure. Getting a pipeline going is a great excuse to brew more, too!

I don't think you can wait. You'll try to wait the three weeks of bottle conditioning, but then you'll cheat and pop a bottle open at 9 days and it will taste like crap. That's what I did, anyway. I still cheat sometimes. It's hard to wait.
Today 08:24 PM

I didn't even wait that long, no need to waste hydrometer samples but yeah, you'll probably find yourself drinking bottles at 1, 2, and 3 weeks. No shame in it, but remember it get's better, and if it still doesn't seem fully carbed even after 2 or 3 weeks just give it another 2 or 3.

Welcome to the addiction that is home brewing. It's great fun.

 

[TheMan]

I've only done six batches so far, but patience is key...that said, I thought my second brew was terrible when I tried it after the 7-10 day fermenting + 2 week bottling per the instructions. So I stopped drinking it. 3 weeks later, it is one of the best beers I've ever had.

As for the thermometer, I brew with a friend, realized when brewing by myself for first time, when I cooled, I did not have thermometer (left at friends place). Most people on here say it takes about 20-30 minutes to cool....I waited 15 minutes, dipped finger in sanitizer, then in wort....too hot....rinse and repeat five minutes later....still felt too hot...rinse and repeated five minutes later, felt perfect. Pitched and it has been my best brew yet!
By far not the best method, but you get the idea lol...go with your gut. From everything you read as a noob, it sounds like you can really mess up your beer with incorrect timing, temp, etc. But after reading this forum and the fvckups by the more seasoned brewers, it seems very tough to really mess up a brew.

You will love it if you give it time.

edit: At six brews I am still a noob...you can listen or not lol

 

[Schnitzengiggle]

I'm cooling my wort, and my thermometer broke, what do I do?

Buy another thermometer!

Q:Hey what time is it?
A:Time to buy a watch!

Just givin you a hard time.

 

[weirdboy]

This has happened to me. I just waited until the wort was cool to the touch and then pitched. Beer came out perfect.

 

[DRoyLenz]

Well, just an update, in case anybody actually cares. It's about 12 hours after pitching my yeast, and it's already bubbling away, so I obviously didn't screw something up too bad.

I realized after reading various resources that there is a little flexibility with these things. I'm reading someplaces the wort has to be down to 70F, but then the instructios on the yeast packet are telling me to rehydrate it in 40C water (~105F). The instructions for the kit say 82F. I just thought to myself, if I was a yeast cell, would I be happy in this wort? When I could comfortably say yes, I added it.

I'll let you know though, before my digital thermometer broke, it was REALLY nice having an accurate read whenever I wanted. I could set it to go off at a certain temperature, and it had a timer on it, it was VERY handy. I'll be getting another one, (better one that won't break) and I would recommend one to those still using the Liquid Crystal Thermos.

Thanks for the advice guys. And Schnitzengiggle, you're a smart a$$.

 

[marubozo]

As you noticed, the yeast aren't going to complain too much. But it is important to remember that the early part of the fermentation is important and that's where the temps can have an effect on flavors. That's why it's important to get the wort down close to fermentation temps before pitching. It has to do with water's nasty habit of retaining heat. While you can pitch at say 80 and not hurt the yeast or anything, even if you put your fermenter in a 65 degree room it could take days before the wort cools down to the 60s and by then the fermentation may already be done.

And yes, I love my digital thermometer.

 

[phatuna]

You might want to check this thread out. If you are not buying a "water-proof" digital thermometer, that wire is not supposed to get wet.
If the wire gets wet, it will either give you a false read, or will shut down. Either way, it can be fixed. Take a look at this thread: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/remote-probe-thermometer-wort-proofing-26905/

 

[bpugh1975]

Actually, I think the "rule of thumb" came from this scenario. If you can comfortably put your thumb (sanitized, or course) in the wort, you should be good to go.

 

[DRoyLenz]

You might want to check this thread out. If you are not buying a "water-proof" digital thermometer, that wire is not supposed to get wet.
If the wire gets wet, it will either give you a false read, or will shut down. Either way, it can be fixed. Take a look at this thread: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/remote-probe-thermometer-wort-proofing-26905/

I think there is a lot of truth to this. I noticed after pulling my thermometer out of my boiling wort that it appeared some wort had seeped in to the joint between the probe and the wire. I wish I would have read this thread again prior to buying a new thermometer, because I did NOT by a water proof one. Right now, I'm just going to be careful when taking temperatures not to fully submerse my probe, until I can follow these steps to waterproof it.

I'm also considering drilling a tiny hole in my fermenter and putting the thermometer in there, sealing it with a rubber stopper, or perhaps some silicone. This will allow me to take temperature readings with out removing my lid and exposing my product to ambient air. Along those same lines, I'm trying to find a good way to do the same thing with a rubber hose that I can attach to my auto-siphon. This will allow me to take hydrometer samples without removing the lid (it hurts my fingers ). Has anybody had any luck with a set up like this, and perhaps refer me to a good thread posting referring to someone who already has done something like this?

Thanks,

Dave