Fermometer Placement on Carboy

[Dr. Bubra]

Hello BN Army!

So, I have a pretty noob question about Fermometer placement on carboys. I'm extremely green to homebrewing & I'm just getting my "brewery" set up for its maiden voyage. Just trying to get my setup proper, from the jump, so I can get the best readings possible during fermentation. Hoping this question isn't too ridiculously OCD for answer. I did a few keyword searches on the forums & didn't see an answer so here goes...

Where is the best position on a Carboy to place the fermometer? Is it ideal to place it toward the center of the volume of liquid being measured? Or is best placement toward the top or bottom of the liquid volume? For clarity, I will be doing 5 gallon batches in glass carboys. Any & all input is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Dr. B

[spiderwrangler]

I've put mine on vertical (but ended up borking one that was on ridged glass), and they seem to work fine. While the ferment is active and churning, you really won't get much stratification of temp as the CO2 rising is going to carry liquid up from the bottom, so you will get decent turn over.

[brewinhard]

Best to place those in the center of the liquid being measured. In a small size batch (5g) the wort will circulate well enough during fermentation. Do be advised that those fermometers can be off by a couple degrees or so in either direction. In addition, your wort will gain quite a few more degrees during fermentation due its exothermic nature (heating up). So you will want to try to keep your primary fermenters in a cooler spot than you think you might need as the fermentation will increase your temps by a few degrees at minimum. Remember, you can always warm up your fermenter if needed (cover with a blanket, towel, move to a warmer spot in house) but you can't always cool the fermentation down without a refrigerator (and temp controller) or a swamp cooler method (you can search the forums for that one too).

[Dr. Bubra]

Thanks for the feedback guys! Just returned from the East Coast, fermometers in place & carboys are ready to accept some sweet nectar. Taking inventory of my fetus of a brewery, developing the space in my small SF apartment & picking up some final supplies. First Brew Day is scheduled for Friday the 26th. Excited!!!