Thermometer

[Mustard]

I was just talking to my neighbor looking for pointers and why I had an off flavor in my beer. Some how we got on to the topic of thermometers and I came home to try to verify it was accurate. Turns out it reads 13 degrees higher then it actually is. So my mash in at 154 is really mashing in at 167.... oh also I was getting low gravity. Theory now is it wad killing off most of the enzymes....so this next batch I hop to get on (WITH MY HOMEGROWN HOPS) I will be using 2 thermometers

 

[saazall]

Buy a good quality thermometer (like Comark MK14) that has a calibration function. Use the ice bath method to set 32 degrees. Generally accurate to a degree or so.

 

[day_trippr]

[...]Turns out it reads 13 degrees higher then it actually is. So my mash in at 154 is really mashing in at 167[...]

Probably a moot point, but fwiw, that indicates the thermometer is reading low.
If it was reading high your actual mash temperature was more like 141.

Either way, it's a hella big handicap. Good catch...

Cheers!

 

[RM-MN]

I was just talking to my neighbor looking for pointers and why I had an off flavor in my beer. Some how we got on to the topic of thermometers and I came home to try to verify it was accurate. Turns out it reads 13 degrees higher then it actually is. So my mash in at 154 is really mashing in at 167.... oh also I was getting low gravity. Theory now is it wad killing off most of the enzymes....so this next batch I hop to get on (WITH MY HOMEGROWN HOPS) I will be using 2 thermometers

No. Just no! If you already know that one thermometer is off by 13 degrees, calibrate it if you can. If it can't be recalibrated, throw it away before you ruin another batch of beer, then get a new thermometer. It doesn't need to be an expensive one, I've found the Taylor digital thermometers to be pretty accurate and they are less than $20.

 

[Mustard]

Yes your right...Thanks

 

[Mustard]

I am getting a new thermometer! Just figured I would use another one to double check just so it doesn't happen again in the future. But I guess if I calibrate it before every batch I should be able to trust it will work. (hopefully)