fermenting temp control or consistency

[ABI Brewery]

Just like everyone else I've looking at upgrading my brew, I have the system good to go, went all electric and welded up a couple keggles, anyway I've been thinking about a fermentation chamber to better control my temps, I'm in central Minnesota and have a "cold" storage area that gets down to about 40 degrees in the winter so I would have to have a well insulated chamber and a decent heat source I would imagine, anyway looking at this option got me to thinking, does the temp control have similar benefits to temp consistency, I can ferment in my bar and have a consistent temp of 70, so my question is, is control or consistency the end game?

 

[wsmith1625]

I believe they're equally important. When you ferment too warm, it doesn't matter that it's consistent, you're still going to produce excess fusel alcohol and have a harsh tasting beer. If your constantly too cold, you will risk a stalled fermentation plus you may not get the flavors you were expecting the yeast to produce.

Whatever fermentation chamber you decide upon, use a dual stage temperature controller to prevent temperature swings and to set the optimal temperature for the yeast you're using.

 

[ABI Brewery]

Ok, thanks, I think that a chamber will be top of the list, thinking of using fridge since I'm using 2 big mouth bubblers and heat with an aquarium heater, amazon has a 200W that should be able to get me where I need to be, and I will be using an inkbird ITC-308 for control

 

[wsmith1625]

I used a mini fridge and the Inkbird ITC-308. I also use a fermwrap as my heat source. I like that it heats the beer directly. Just remember that you want to control the temperature of your beer and not the air in the fridge. You can use a thermowell or tape the temp probe to your BMB and cover it with bubble wrap. I do the latter and it works well.