Anybody home brew?

[Phentex]

If so, can you recommend a good thermometer? We used a candy thermometer last time but it's too short and wasn't easy to read once clipped on.

I checked amazon but the reviews are all over the place. Same when I googled home brew/beer thermometers.

Thanks!

[NRaleighLiberal]

1. only an intermittent home brewer. but an entrenched home (coffee) roaster!

can't help with your thermometer conundrum..

[Phentex]

2. coffee IS my drink of choice!

but I am trying to be supportive of the home brewer

[Shermann]

3. Is this a coffee thread now?

I've perfected this season's Pumpkin Spice Latte this morning. I have a Rancilio Silvia espresso machine that gets a lot of use.

[Phentex]

4. some people want wine cellars...

I dream of a coffee room with shelves housing all kinds of roasters, bean dispensers, espresso machines, french press, etc. vintage and new... with a lovely oversized reading chair next to a window encased by bookshelves.

[Cloud City Dude]

5. Possibilities...

I would consider an instant-read food thermometer. The target temperature for starch conversion is about 158 degrees, so it's right where meat is safely done. The long probe allows you to check the mash at different depths.

I'm surprised your homebrew store doesn't have good offerings.

Good luck, and "Relax...Don't worry...have a homebrew."

[Phentex]

7. well...

something happened the last time we were there and let's just say we don't really want to support this location anymore. Haven't looked into other places as we are pretty new to this.

[Cloud City Dude]

11. Too bad...and not good business sense ?!?

If you are really new to homebrewing, stick with kits that use only malt extract, maybe a few supplemental grains that you can put in a mesh bag and just keep the water steamy, not boiling.

I call it aromatherapy when I stand over the kettle and stir in the hops.

Enjoy.

[Phentex]

15. Thanks...

we have loved the smells so far.

[Kali]

6. get a thermoworks instant read and it will be good for all kinds of cooking

the MK4 (I think that is the one) around $100 sometimes on sale for 70 or 80 if you watch. that may seem extreme/expensive but after you have it you will wonder why not sooner. has saved more meals by cooking to temp instead of time than I can count. son has become a grill master with it.

I used to brew and I think I had some kind of floating thermometer...it has been a while or maybe I just dipped a crappy cooking thermometer - more likely I just had to go by boiling, wrist touch, and tap water temps. LOL

[Phentex]

9. I have a thermoworks....

but it's short as well. I forgot about thermoworks. I just looked at their site and they do have a long waterproof version that would work. THANKS!

[mitch96]

10. I have both thermoworks and honestly the little one is as good as the big one.

The bigger one is easier to read. Both read 0º in ice water and 212º in boiling water. certified +/- ½º accuracy.. Good enough for "gubment" work... YMMV
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[Kali]

12. both?

I think they have 20 different kinds I say that as a total sucker and owner of a MK4, a dot with two kinds of probes, and a thermopop. also have bought a thermopop and 2 zipper pull thermometers as gifts. who knew thermometers could be addictive?

no way to justify one of those smoker jobs that has bluetooth and controls 4 probes and a blower fan too, but I can dream!

[mitch96]

14. Yup, both... big one and little one.. Probably same guts on all the small ones.

I agree about the whiz bang bluetooth remote jobs.. I just have the wired variety..
I have two outside thermometer (front and back don't cha know) and I calibrate them with the thermo-pen. I also use it to take my temp after being around infected people. Works great.
Yes, addictive. OTOH less expensive than collecting cars, eh?
YMMV
m

[Phentex]

16. we don't thermometer shame here...

I am sure many in this group could confess to owning *cough* several.

[Phentex]

17. we used the thermoworks...

seemed to work fine.

Ah, the BBQ guru! My husband says it feels like cheating. But it does work well. I got him one for a birthday because he doesn't golf and we love bbq.

[mitch96]

20. Once I started temping my food everything started to taste a bit better.. No guesswork..

Hit the temp, let it rest bing bang boom delish........
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[ihas2stinkyfeet]

8. get the kind that comes w turkey friars.

a good pot for boiling wort, anyway.
i dont brew but the ex did.

[Phentex]

18. Did you drink the brew?

How was it?

[Warpy]

13. I never used one

Now they have some handy dandy gizmos especially for brewers: https://www.amazon.com/Thermometer-Temperature-Fermenting-Kombucha-Aquariums/dp/B078NZCK8Q/ref=sr_1_8?dchild=1&keywords=brewing+thermometer&qid=1602366046&sr=8-8

I always found brewing beer to be a very forgiving process. As long as you started out with the right ingredients, scrupulously clean equipment, and didn't murder the years by adding it too soon, it came out tasting like beer.

The hardest part was the long drive to get the water from an artesian spring with no chlorine. There was always a line, every brewer in the county seemed to use it.

[Phentex]

19. it destroys a kitchen...

if being done by someone who doesn't notice such things.

I'm not altogether sure why someone wants to do this but it's a pandemic and I'm going with the flow.

[mitch96]

21. I use to homebrew years ago.. Only had one batch that was bad.. otherwise VERY good

I think I got some weird airborne yeast. Totally skunked the beer. I liked the idea that it only had water, yeast, hops and malt. No other junk. Never got a hang over from it also...Fuzzy the next morning but no head ache or bad stomach... Had to stop as I was drinking too much.
9 six packs a week was too much!!!!
I did not have such a good thermometer but it worked fine for what I was using it for.
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[Warpy]

22. I used dextrose to boost the alcohol

and charge the bottles, otherwise it was the four ingredients. I never bothered with fining.

The stuff was lethal. Two bottles of it would have the same effect as a six pack of commercial stuff on my ex.

[mitch96]

23. Yup, more sugar for the yeast to eat, the more ETOH it poops out.. If you get a real high sugar

content malt it does the same thing... If I had a batch of hopps that was a bit too citrus/piney I would add rice crispies to the batch. That is what Budwiser does.. add rice. It took the edge off and made it a bit smoother. Mixing and matching was fun but in the long run I had to stop b/c of over consumption and too many "friends" coming over to try it out...
There is no libation without fermentation!!
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[Warpy]

24. I can't drink (migraines, not morals, no party--just pain)

so I stopped when I left my drunken ex.

Alcohol kills the yeast stone dead above 20%. I think I pushed things to about 14%, then got good carbonation out of it.

[mitch96]

25. "I think I pushed things to about 14%, then got good carbonation out of it."

I think I was around there also.. I got tired of bottles so I got some Coke kegs like they use at fairs and ball games. Cleaned them out good and put the brew in there. Some come with CO2 cartridge gizmo's when the level of the fluid gets low. Worked out great with the kegs because who only drinks one ?
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