1.144: is this just a bad idea?

[hotbeer]

There are Android and iOS Tilt apps that offer quick monitoring of SG and temp right out of the box….literally no “hacking” or tweaking.

Yes, I agree with that. I still have a problem with the fact I have to leave something there to monitor it 24 x 7 if I want all that data.

The device itself should log and store that data for me.

 

[TestTickle]

I’ll give just one example of how they have been useful. I had to go out of town several months ago and I had a lager fermenting in a temp controlled fridge on a WiFi Inkbird. I was able to monitor fermentation and when the SG got within about 5 points of expected FG, I adjusted the temp on the fridge for a diacetyl rest.

It also helped me shave a few days off of many brews by knowing where I was at in fermentation instead of waiting x number of days, monitoring airlock activity, taking a reading, waiting a couple of days to check again and verify that it’s done, cold crash and package. For some IPA’s, it helped me nail down my dry hopping schedule.

Again, not everyone would benefit from them, and I get it, but I can tell you from my experience of using them in probably close to 100 brews (without counting) that they are more than just bling.

 

[TestTickle]

The device itself should log and store that data for me.

If it had internal storage, processing and WiFi capabilities, the battery life would be ****. I literally JUST replaced the batteries on the first two I purchased around three years ago.

 

[AlexKay]

The Raspberry Pi isn’t really much of a hack. If Tilt sold a separate “data logger” device that did everything for you out of the box … it would pretty much just be a Pi, a power adaptor, a case, and a pre-burned SD card.

 

[bwible]

I like the Tilt. I only have 1. So can only monitor one beer at a time. This is actually a good thing, as it keeps me from starting more than 1 beer at a time.

I am not sure mine is properly calibrated. You’d think for $130 it would come calibrated. For example I just did an Irish Red that started at 1.047 and the Tilt says it finished at 1.006. Using 1056. That comes up as 87% attenuation and just can’t be right. 1056 says 73-77%. I’m not using enzymes to make low carb beers. The batch is not infected. I re-used the yeast for a stout, also not infected.

I tried calibrating this thing before. I will have to check it with my glass hydrometer and see how far off it is. Its funny it doesn’t usually seem to be off on og, just usually fg. Maybe it has crud stuck to it from fermentation, being in the head of foam, etc. If thats the problem there’s really no way to avoid that.

I also agree about having to use an old cell phone to monitor the thing. I use an old iPhone 5S. It doesn’t work more than about 10 feet away. (Glass carboy) The Tilt app also has to be open and running full time to log the data. The app keeps quitting on me every so often and shutting down for no apparent reason and I lose the data until I reopen it. I’m not always there to restart it and I don’t catch it right away.

I like the Tilt but it seems to have its issues.

 

[hottpeper13]

Wow,this thread went off the rails! good thing nobody mentioned LODO or it might explode. High gravity brews are always a good idea.

 

[TestTickle]

Wow,this thread went off the rails! good thing nobody mentioned LODO or it might explode. High gravity brews are always a good idea.

It definitely went off the rails, haha. My apologies to the OP.

@bwible, I'll say one more thing on the subject of the Tilt regarding accuracy, then we can move this to a new thread if necessary, lol. I never count on them to be completely accurate, I always consider it more of a monitoring tool than anything. Saying that, I use two calibration points - one at 1.000 in water, the other is my measured OG for each batch.

On brew day, I make sure it measures 1.000 in water (which they usually do) and adjust if they don't. Before pitching yeast and dropping in the Tilt, I take an OG reading with my refractometer, drop in the Tilt and set the measured OG as my second calibration point once it has settled. Doing this, the readings are far more accurate, although I still rely on manual readings for actual OG/FG/ABV. It is certainly not a replacement for a regular hydrometer or refractometer.

Cheers!

 

[bracconiere]

You have anti-yeast in there, converting alcohol and CO2 back to sugar?

acetobacter?

 

[hotbeer]

If it had internal storage, processing and WiFi capabilities, the battery life would be ****. I literally JUST replaced the batteries on the first two I purchased around three years ago.

I don't believe that at all. The only thing that's going to impact energy use is the wifi vs bluetooth. So you might have had to replace the batteries at 26 months instead of 36 months. Though wifi can use less power if the node it's connected too is closer as you have to be with BT.

But now you have me miffed about having to replace batteries. They aren't rechargeable batteries! Though it would be more cost over a plug in charger, a wireless charging for them would be ideal.

 

[bracconiere]

a wireless charging for them would be ideal.

for some reason that reminds of the BBS days and bimodem.....could send and receive files at the same time....

 

[TestTickle]

I don't believe that at all. The only thing that's going to impact energy use is the wifi vs bluetooth. So you might have had to replace the batteries at 26 months instead of 36 months. Though wifi can use less power if the node it's connected too is closer as you have to be with BT.

But now you have me miffed about having to replace batteries. They aren't rechargeable batteries! Though it would be more cost over a plug in charger, a wireless charging for them would be ideal.

Check out the iSpindels if you haven't already. They have built in WiFi and a rechargeable battery. The rechargeable battery is necessary because of the power consumption.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

Wow,this thread went off the rails! good thing nobody mentioned [...] or it might explode.

Let's add some XKCD (1319 may be appropriate humor) to the mix and see what happens. (It certainly describes the Excel spreadsheet I use for recipe design ).

 

[MaxStout]

Or as my dad would say, "A two dollar solution to a ten cent problem."

 

[Gozie Boy]

Maybe I'm missing something here about Tilt and its connectivity, but when you are accessing data, it is either connected or not, no? It is probably not poorly connected and thus sending you erroneous quality data. I think the issue which I have seen, which may be related to the above problem, is that the Tilt can get krausen and/or CO2 bubbles glommed on the device, and then it may break off. When I have what looks to be a spurious data readings, I slightly rock my conical several times, and then after the liquid movement subsides, I often get representative data points again. I think this can happen especially with high gravity beers and high krausen-generating yeasts.

 

[AlexKay]

We’re down to 1.084, which is about 40% attenuation so far (and 8% ABV!) Now the krausen is very … there.

 

[TestTickle]

We’re down to 1.084, which is about 40% attenuation so far (and 8% ABV!) Now the krausen is very … there.

My neighbor with the LBMB.

 

[Smudgey]

I have one tilt. I wave my android at it once a day or when ever I'm near the garage in the first day or 2 of fermentation. That's plenty of data to get a curve which is all I ever expect of it - just the slope of the trend. I take an OG and SG with a floating hydrometer and forget worrying about the calibration all together. It's worth it just to avoid all the manual readings - especially if sampling through a floating dip under pressure etc.

 

[AlexKay]

My neighbor with the LBMB.

Hi, neighbor!

I usually ferment in a 1.75 gallon keg, but I wanted to watch this one, plus with the keg I lose a little more. Hence.

Down to 1.068. Temperature is starting to go down, though not at ambient yet. My bet is I’ll get 5-10 more points quickly, and then it’ll go to a point or two a day for who knows how long. We’ll see!

 

[AlexKay]

Update. Fermenting for 19 days now, resulting in a final gravity of 1.038, which is 74% apparent attenuation and 14% ABV. It's been steady for 48 hours, but I'm going to give it 2 or 3 more days ... can't hurt.

 

[hout17]

Regarding the tilt. I don't worry about constantly monitoring my tilt. I just roll in to the brew area once or twice a day and open my tilt app on my phone and log the data and then I'm done with it. Then when I'm done I can go in to Beersmith and import the data in from the cloud. I guess if you wanted to log at a high resolution which I don't really care about then yeah it would take some hardware setup and tweak or leave an old phone nearby.

That said I did get an ispindel and plan on trying that out. Great thing about these digital hydros is you know when fermentation has finished without sampling your beer a bunch.

 

[jerrylotto]

Not sure what temperature your fermenting at but I suggest that you raise it to the top of the range for a couple of days and then drop it - less than 5 F per day till you get down to serving temperature around 38 F.

 

[AlexKay]

Not sure what temperature your fermenting at but I suggest that you raise it to the top of the range for a couple of days and then drop it - less than 5 F per day till you get down to serving temperature around 38 F.

Good idea! At a week or so I bumped it from 60 to 65. But now I just nudged it to 72 for the last few days. Not going to cold crash it, though. I’m going to let it sit for a long, long time before serving. It’ll clear just fine.

 

[jerrylotto]

Good idea! At a week or so I bumped it from 60 to 65. But now I just nudged it to 72 for the last few days. Not going to cold crash it, though. I’m going to let it sit for a long, long time before serving. It’ll clear just fine.

If you can ferment under pressure, it will cut down on the fusel alcohol production.

 

[AlexKay]

Squeezed another 2 points out of it to finish at 1.036 and 14.5% ABV. And the answer to "is this just a bad idea?" is quite possibly "yes." Taste is wonderful: very toasty with toffee and dark fruit. Not too sweet at all, and of course, lots of alcohol. Tastes fantastic for a just-fermented beer. However it is really more of a syrup than a beer. Rye pentosans add mouthfeel, and boiled-down, highly concentrated pentosans add lots of mouthfeel. Lots. This may be undrinkable, or as undrinkable as anything >14% ABV can be. Or best served over ice. Or ice cream. Going to give it at least a few more months until another taste.

 

[passedpawn]

I'd add champaign yeast. And additional alpha enzmyes.

 

[AlexKay]

I'd add champaign yeast. And additional alpha enzmyes.

Attenuation is fine … it’s not overly sweet at all. And enzymes will do nothing for the pentosans. They will laugh.

 

[cmac62]

It may improve with carbonation, the carbonic acid will thin out the mouth feel some.

 

[day_trippr]

I had to go back to the OP to realize what was going on here.
Given most folks' experience mashing significant rye content the excessive viscosity was likely predictable but tbh I totally missed it from the jump.
Sorry...

 

[AlexKay]

I had to go back to the OP to realize what was going on here.
Given most folks' experience mashing significant rye content the excessive viscosity was likely predictable but tbh I totally missed it from the jump.
Sorry...

I think it's one of those things I had to do in order to get it. I've made plenty of beers with a pound of flaked oats or flaked rye in there, presumably for the mouthfeel, and I never really noticed much o an effect. This I notice.

I think it's going to be delicious, though. I may need to repeat this recipe exactly with wheat malt instead of rye.

 

[day_trippr]

Well one can always chalk up out of band results as "SCIENCE!"
Still...it may be possible to finesse such a high rye content into a quaffable product by incorporating a prolonged beta-glucan rest...

Cheers!