I had been speaking about how best I could calibrate the probes and thermometers on my system, and mentioned I needed a good tool to help with this. There are several ways I have read that people calibrate their thermometers. The most straight forward is an ice water test to dial in 32 degrees. The other is a boil test. Water boils at 212 degrees, but will vary slightly based on altitude which should be factored in. However most of the brewing temps I am trying to monitor is around 150-170 degrees, so when possible it is best to calibrate directly within that range.
My new Thermopen comes certified Pre-calibrated to within +/- 0.7 degrees F. I spent a bit of time yesterday taking off the temp probe from my Mash Tun, and my HLT. I warmed up some water to around 155 degrees, then used the Thermopen along with the probes to dial-in the PID calibration. It probably only took me 10 minutes to get both PID's calibrated. As I watched the temperature of the water cooling in the cup I was using, you could see the temps drop at the exact same time for both probes. That was a great sight to see!
What I did previously was to take an average of all the thermometers and probes that came to me. They all state they have been calibrated before shipping, but the reality is there was easily a 5 degree difference between the largest extremes of what came out of the box. It turns out I was pretty close, only around 1 degrees off.
Now that my system is dialed in, I plan to brew tomorrow an interesting Chocolate Mint Stout. Also the revisited Holiday Ale is really finding its stride right now and is ready to drink. The tweaks did what we hoped between the first batch and the second batch. We will be submitting this for a competition being held by Middle Brow here in Chicago. This would be our first competition submission. We have no expectations of winning, but it will be great feedback.
More to come tomorrow after the brew day!
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