Controlling the temperature

How do you guys control the temperature so precisely?

of the ferment or of the mash/lauter process?

Most have a Johnson which coupled with a fridge or freezer allows more precise temps to be maintained. Some have Ranco controller. Both plug into the electric and then you plug in your freezer or fridge into the controller. The controller will cycle power to maintain the desired temp.

Here you can see my Johnson's thermister hangin in the upper left corner of my freezer.

EdWort, is that a bucket of rice or something in the freezer? I was wondering if that would eliminate most of the condensation I get.

no im talking about when you have to keep it like exactly 160 degrees or something for an hour... how do you do that, just constantly monitor the temperature?

The simplest way is to mash in a modified cooler, start a little high and check the temperature ever 15 minutes, adding hot water as needed.

A much more complicated way is to have temperature monitors connected to the steam jacket around the mash tun which regulate the steam generator.

There many ways in between.

I use a water heater jacket around my mash tun and I recirculate through a HERMS coil to adjust the temperature.

My favorite temp. control method is to soak paper towels in water and fill pots or pie pans with water. I put the pans around my fermenter, stick the wet towels to the side leaving a part to wick water from the pan. A fan on high, medium or low gives you temp control, as does covering more of the surface of the fermenter.


Cheers,
Doug

My vessel is modified to fit a kettle boiler but you need to use a grain bed to prevent scorching.

I use a digital thermometer and manually control the temp since I smashed the thermostat after it ****ed up one time when I was out of the room.

I add tap water directly to the grains and not preheated water.

I normally aim for 62C (F?), then I let it drop beneath this, when it hits about 57C, I reapply the heat again. Each cycle takes roughly 5 minutes and im sitting in front of the TV during this so im watching over it the whole time but not obsessively.

Also im boiling/collecting sparge water using an electric kettle while this is going on.

My system holds the heat it might drop 1-2 deg F for small mashes.

HERMS. I use HERMS. Works great.

I use this equation (from Palmer's How to Brew):

Initial Infusion Equation:
Strike Water Temperature Tw = (.2/r)(T2 - T1) + T2

where:
r = The ratio of water to grain in quarts per pound.
T1 = The initial temperature (¡F) of the mash.
T2 = The target temperature (¡F) of the mash.
Tw = The actual temperature (¡F) of the infusion water.

NOTE: These equations also work for degrees Celsius, liters and kilograms. The only difference is that the thermodynamic constant of .2 changes to .41.


I mash in a bucket, so i swirl some hot water around in there first. Add my grains and water, stir it up check the temp and wrap it up in blankets and towels. It loses a few degrees during the mash.

I spent way too much time and money designing and building a microprocessor based controller. Want blue prints for free?

http://tapmeister.com/RIMS/RIMS_Controller.htm