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I've always just measured ambient too. I've got an Inkbird 308 regulating the temp inside a fridge holding my 14-gallon conical. The plumbers putty idea seems like a low-overhead method if it's really going to make a difference. Does the fermenter material matter? I notice in David Heath's...

I happened to pick up a bottle of ginger beer from a local brewery today and am interested in making my own. Could you share your recipe?

HB APA

I’ve decided to embrace autumn fully this year.

Probably one of the last warm days left this year. Gotta enjoy em while we can!

UPDATE: Well I'm about to start brewing today. Here's the measures I've taken: soaked and cleaned all fermenter parts thoroughly replaced old silicon hoses with brand new disassembled kettle ball valve and cleaned thoroughly (yup, lots of gunk in there) disassembled Spike airstone and will boil...

Good point. When I used my old-school aerator on the wand I used to boil the stone after every use. The design of this one with the gas post attached - I was reluctant to boil the whole thing. I wasn't sure what that would do to the gasket. I guess I could disassemble it after use though.

I was using a Rapt Pill - it was the latest change to my process, so I left it out this time to see. Still got the infection, but I don't think I'll return to using it anyway. I didn't find it to be all that useful, tbh. Not super accurate.

Thanks everyone for the great tips. I've got a few things to go on now - appreciate the help!

"...with the valve(s) open, closed, or in between, at a 45° angle?" Is there a best practice for this?

lol - too low, yes. :) The sample doesn't actually have any noticeable off flavours, which is consistent with the last batch. The week old sample didn't taste off, but by the second week it was noticeable. Sour and "harsh" tasting. I store the kettle with the valve closed. My chilling system...

I need help. I started homebrewing 4 years ago. Since then I've generally averaged 1 batch per month, so somewhere in the range of 50 batches. I've never had a problem with infection before. It happened to me for the first time recently, where I had to dump my batch of British golden ale. Now I...

Yeah I know, and I did always sanitize it, but the way that Rapt pill is designed it seems to me that there's plenty of places for stuff to hide (it scratches pretty easily, the connection where the two halves come together, etc.), and honestly the value I got out of it is pretty negligible.

Just to tie this thread up, I dumped the whole batch.:( It tasted really bad, and I've never seen a slick coating like this on the walls of the fermenter (maybe normal for 1098?). Ah well - live and learn. I'll double down on the sanitation next brew day. And I'm NOT using the stupid floating...