Fermentation Managing/Monitoring Set up

[Jhedrick83]

I've now made a few partial mash batches that I'm pretty proud of (Probably not award winners but still good beer) and I keep seeing/hearing that one of the biggest steps in taking good beer and making it great beer is to really manage the temperature of the fermentation process. So, time to do that! I just scooped up the Inkbird heating mat and temperature controller deal from here (Thanks Inkbird!) and was going to start hunting for a mini fridge to use for cooling. This will be set up in my garage. Here in East TN, my garage is ~40-50F in the winter and easily 70-80F in the summer, so I need to be able to heat and cool. I don't think I'll ever do more than 5 gallon brews as my fiance and I don't drink enough to justify more than that. I'm currently doing 1-2 gallon brews. Any fridge suggestions? Things I should/should want out of the fridge?

I'm also thinking about getting a Tilt while I am at it. I know it may not be 100% accurate with FG due to Krausen buildup but I really like the idea of being able to watch the gravity curve to know when fermentation is done. Then I can take a FG reading with my hydrometer when I'm prepping to bottle. I'm guessing that a Tilt Bridge would be a recommended accessory since all of this will be in a garage and I won't get any data points unless I have a device near by to get the bluetooth signal. Anything else I should consider with that?

Any other things or pieces of related gear I should consider while I am at it? I'm lucky that my Fiance is all on board with this endeavor as she pushed me down this hill. So, it's not like I'm having to talk her into things but it is preferred if I'm getting all the things I need at once rather than trickling in and having yet another conversation about what I need for beer this week!

 

[jdudek]

I use a thermowell so that I can take the temperature of the beer (or as close as possible) instead of just the ambient temperature of the mini fridge.
https://www.amazon.com/Stainless-Th...d=1&keywords=thermowell&qid=1612394557&sr=8-3Note these don't work great with carboys, they tend to just slide out of seal. Works great with bucket (or a stainless vessel like the anvil bucket)

I also use a tilt. I use an old phone as the bridging device. If you have an old phone or tablet you can dedicate to the task, then you don't need to spend money on a bridge. Fiance might like that

Sorry, I have no advice on the fridges... I use a small chest freezer.

Tilts are not super accurate for FG (Though personally I have found they're usually within a point or 2) but they are great at telling you fermentation is done as you can clearly see the graph flat lining towards the end.

 

[palmtrees]

I also brew small batches and recently set up a mini fridge for fermentation. My biggest piece of advice is to look for one without a freezer. That way you don't have to do any modifications to get more vertical space. I found a 3.3 cubic foot freezerless one at best buy that fits a single carboy perfectly (either 3 gallon or 5 gallon) with plenty of space on the side for a blowoff jar if necessary. I liked that it didn't take up much space and was ready to go right out of the box.

Some people like the bigger fridges and try to build them out a bit so you can have multiple fermenter going at once. I don't ever have more than one beer in active fermentation at once, and you really only need the temp control when it's actively fermenting. If my batches ever overlap, I just let the first one finish up consitioning at ambient temps and swap the second beer into the fridge while it ferments. So when deciding on fridge size, consider your pipeline and whether you ever have multiple brews going simultaneously.

 

[Jhedrick83]

I use a thermowell so that I can take the temperature of the beer (or as close as possible) instead of just the ambient temperature of the mini fridge.
https://www.amazon.com/Stainless-Th...d=1&keywords=thermowell&qid=1612394557&sr=8-3Note these don't work great with carboys, they tend to just slide out of seal. Works great with bucket (or a stainless vessel like the anvil bucket)

I also use a tilt. I use an old phone as the bridging device. If you have an old phone or tablet you can dedicate to the task, then you don't need to spend money on a bridge. Fiance might like that

I saw thermowells as well and I didn’t know if that was a better option or not. I’ve seen people who love them and some who insist a poor seal with it is a good way to introduce bacteria. I’m debating if I should make insulation “jackets” for whatever fermentation tank I use in the fridge so that it has slower temp swings. If I was going to do that, I would integrate the temp probe with that so the probe is between the jacket and the fermentation tank itself. That way I’m having less risk of exposure and theoretically a fairly accurate temp reading. Not sure if the jacket is a good idea in general or not.

I do have a few old cell phones. Is that much more of a power drain than a raspberry pi?

 

[Jhedrick83]

I’d say that a single 3-5 gallon batch fermenting at a time is probably a good way to keep me from getting way ahead of myself. Between my available time and the the amount I drink. I think one at a time is plenty.

 

[jdudek]

I saw thermowells as well and I didn’t know if that was a better option or not. I’ve seen people who love them and some who insist a poor seal with it is a good way to introduce bacteria. I’m debating if I should make insulation “jackets” for whatever fermentation tank I use in the fridge so that it has slower temp swings. If I was going to do that, I would integrate the temp probe with that so the probe is between the jacket and the fermentation tank itself. That way I’m having less risk of exposure and theoretically a fairly accurate temp reading. Not sure if the jacket is a good idea in general or not.

I do have a few old cell phones. Is that much more of a power drain than a raspberry pi?

I don't see why the thermowell seal would be any different than the seal created by an airlock into a stopper. Same hole size, same diameter of inserted object (airlock, thermowell). Perhaps there is more to it I am not aware of, but I certainly have not had any issues with bacterias. I've never had a spoiled batch. I think basic sanitization pretty much makes spoiled batches a rare event. None of the people I personally know that brew ever had an infected batch.

I am not sure about jackets. They will affect the reaction time to cooling/heating coming from outside of it. I've seen them used mostly when the cooling and heating mechanism are internal to the wort (like a cooling coil with glycol pumped through). Imagine a very vigorous fermentation where the wort temperature is rising rapidly. if your fermentor is wearing a jacket, the cooling will be more sluggish coupled with the fact that the internal heating will be stronger as the jacket will keep more of the fermentation heat in.. Personally think I would avoid it.

For reference, my temperature profile is pretty much always +/- 1 deg F with the ink bird, a heating sleeve and cooling from a chest freezer. I would not see the need to add anymore to it.

I would assume that your old phone would be plugged into the wall for this. It will not last 2 weeks of fermentation on battery, especially if it is an old phone. The phone has to be ON at all times for logging. You cannot even close the screen (you have to disable any auto lock). Well at least that is my experience with my old iPhone 5.

 

[Stormcrow]

I found an awesome full size stainless side by side fridge on Craigslist for $50.
It was cheap because it wouldn't cool below fifty degrees on the fridge side. It wound up being a very simple (and free) repair that i wont go into right now. The problem is that the silly fridge wound up being so nice i just started using it for a second fridge in the basement and still don't have a fermentation chamber. The moral of the story; Craigslist is your friend. Let the bargains inspire your imagination.

 

[Jhedrick83]

I found an awesome full size stainless side by side fridge on Craigslist for $50.
It was cheap because it wouldn't cool below fifty degrees on the fridge side. It wound up being a very simple (and free) repair that i wont go into right now. The problem is that the silly fridge wound up being so nice i just started using it for a second fridge in the basement and still don't have a fermentation chamber. The moral of the story; Craigslist is your friend. Let the bargains inspire your imagination.

See, now project creep may get me in trouble! I always forget about craigslist. Had a couple super shady experiences a several years ago going to buy things so I swore it off.

 

[Jhedrick83]

I am not sure about jackets. They will affect the reaction time to cooling/heating coming from outside of it. I've seen them used mostly when the cooling and heating mechanism are internal to the wort (like a cooling coil with glycol pumped through). Imagine a very vigorous fermentation where the wort temperature is rising rapidly. if your fermentor is wearing a jacket, the cooling will be more sluggish coupled with the fact that the internal heating will be stronger as the jacket will keep more of the fermentation heat in.. Personally think I would avoid it.

In that same vein, would you then simply set the fermenter on the heating mat rather than wrap the fermenter with it?

 

[McKnuckle]

If you have the space, at least consider a used full size fridge or a small chest freezer. They are much more flexible for all the stuff we do. Small fridges always seem to max out somewhere in your brewing journey.

You can keep bottled and store bought beer, wine, booze, and even food overflow in there too. And hops and harvested yeast. By acquiring it yourself, you establish dibs which prevents your partner from claiming dibs. If s/he has dibs, then food will always be the priority, and your "beer junk" will have to justify itself. If it's yours, then the food is the second class citizen (as it should be).

 

[Jhedrick83]

If you have the space, at least consider a used full size fridge or a small chest freezer. They are much more flexible for all the stuff we do. Small fridges always seem to max out somewhere in your brewing journey.

You can keep bottled and store bought beer, wine, booze, and even food overflow in there too. And hops and harvested yeast. By acquiring it yourself, you establish dibs which prevents your partner from claiming dibs. If S/he has dibs, then food will always be the priority, and your "beer junk" will have to justify itself. If it's yours, then the food is the second class citizen (as it should be).

You know, I had thought about a bigger fridge or chest freeze and my concerns were:

Bigger fridge- While I would have more storage for hops, etc. The temp I would be shooting for would be in the 60s. I wans under the impression that the hops, harvested yeast, etc. all need much lower storage temps. I guess if I had one with a freezer side that would work but I was under the impression that the best way to do this was to have the temp controller turn on the whole fridge or heating mat as needed to maintain the necessary fermentation temp. Would that give my other storage a number of temp swings since they aren't being monitored/controlled. For example, when we have spring here and I keep a garage about 60 or so, neither heating or cooling may be too necessary, then wouldn't the freezer side just never be chilling?

Chest Freezer, I do like that Idea. I can see how for bigger batches, like 5 gal or 10 gal brews, a chest freezer where you can lower the fermenter in is a benefit. It would be harder to get it to do double duty for me though (hop storage, etc.) which is fine.

 

[McKnuckle]

I have a garage and a workshop with brewing stuff in them. The garage has an old fridge that we use only for food, a chest freezer that I use for cold storage and serving of beer (plus hops and yeast), and a foam-insulated wooden box that I use to ferment lagers in the winter, warming them to the 50º range with an Inkbird heating pad.

The workshop has a mini-fridge that I use for fermenting or chilling at any temperature from the 30's to the 70's.

I guess it's the best of both worlds, so if you have only one space to work with, think about the fridge and the fermentation chamber pair for cooling and warming, respectively.

 

[Jhedrick83]

The more I think about it, the more a chest freezer is appealing but it would be nice to have an "always on" fridge to keep bottled beer as well. Serious first world problems. Tricky because I'm trying not to spend too much on the cooling side unnecessarily as I still want to get a Tilt and some good shelving for storing all my gear in the garage as well.

If I go the chest freezer route. Would 5 cubic feet be good enough. Too big? This would house one 3-5 gallon fermentation chamber at a time. Would 5 cu/ft hold two of them? I'd like to find that balance of big enough to fit it easily but not tons of dead space that leads to more temp swings. I'm finding them in 3, 5 and 7 cu/ft sizes.

 

[jdudek]

The more I think about it, the more a chest freezer is appealing but it would be nice to have an "always on" fridge to keep bottled beer as well. Serious first world problems. Tricky because I'm trying not to spend too much on the cooling side unnecessarily as I still want to get a Tilt and some good shelving for storing all my gear in the garage as well.

If I go the chest freezer route. Would 5 cubic feet be good enough. Too big? This would house one 3-5 gallon fermentation chamber at a time. Would 5 cu/ft hold two of them? I'd like to find that balance of big enough to fit it easily but not tons of dead space that leads to more temp swings. I'm finding them in 3, 5 and 7 cu/ft sizes.

Mine is a 5 cu/ft. It will comfortably hold a vessel for 5 gallon fermentation (in my case a 7 gallon anvil bucket). It will definitely not hold 2 vessels. There's extra space for a blow of hose container or a gas tank for cold crashing. I think 5 cu/ft will be perfect for your needs.

 

[Jhedrick83]

For anyone else who is considering something like this. Found this 5 cu/ft chest freezer on Best Buy for 135:

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/insignia-5-0-cu-ft-chest-freezer-white/6385028.p?skuId=6385028
EDIT: It's now showing as unavailable in my area but that my local BB has one on display....