United Kingdom
Combrune argues for the brewing thermometer
Michael Combrune publishes on the use of the thermometer in brewing, arguing for measurement in a trade that ran on judgement.
1762 · also called Combrune, brewing thermometer, thermometer brewing
The version you have probably heard
“Before thermometers, brewers had no control over mash temperature.”
They had good control and no vocabulary for it. The traditional methods were genuinely effective; what they could not do was travel, or let a brewer tell whether a failed batch was two degrees out or ten.
Brewers already controlled mash temperature carefully, using methods that worked — how long steam took to clear, whether a face reflected in the liquor. Those methods are repeatable by one experienced person and transfer to nobody.
What Combrune argued for was a number, and the significance is communication rather than control: a mash schedule that can be written down can be taught, checked, and reproduced on another site.
Why it matters
The start of brewing as something that could be written down rather than only apprenticed.
How well this is established
| Certainty | Documented. Supported by contemporary records that survive and are agreed on. |
|---|---|
| When | 1762. Known to the year rather than to the day. |
| Where | United Kingdom |
Either side of this
← 1700: Porter emerges in London · 1780: Pale ale is exported to India →
See the whole sequence on the beer history timeline.
Last reviewed 2026-08-16.