2 beers in same ferm temp chamber

[TastyAdventure]

I'm going to ferment 2 batches with different yeast side by side in my fridge that has an STC. Where do I put the temp sensor? If I put it on one bucket, it will regulate the temp of that beer, but not the other. The other, having different yeast, will have a different rate of activity and therefore different temp, even though they are in the same chamber.

Am I thinking about this the right way? What should I do to best control the temps of both beers?

My strains are 3522 Ardennes and WL500 Chimay...

 

[beskone]

You have to pick one or the other or just settle for measuring ambient air temp.

Even though the different yeasts have different exothermic values, I'd think you should be well safe to just pick one to measure and let the other ride along.

 

[xandersaml]

I have stick-on thermos on many of my FVs to get an idea of the temp for individual fermenters. I have a cider and a kolsch side by side in my fermentation freezer with a single Johnson controller running an ambient temp of 64F in freezer. Temp probe is between the two.
Cider is 68F and the beer is 66F. Yesterday it was reverse I can live with both.

 

[Compacto]

A third bucket of water to act as a constant will provide the most consistent medium.

 

[beskone]

A third bucket of water to act as a constant will provide the most consistent medium.

Not at all, it'll just measure ambient temps with less swings. Still won't account for the exothermic reactions happening in the fermentation vessels.

 

[wardens355]

I'm going to ferment 2 batches with different yeast side by side in my fridge that has an STC. Where do I put the temp sensor? If I put it on one bucket, it will regulate the temp of that beer, but not the other. The other, having different yeast, will have a different rate of activity and therefore different temp, even though they are in the same chamber.

Am I thinking about this the right way? What should I do to best control the temps of both beers?

My strains are 3522 Ardennes and WL500 Chimay...

I put the probe on the carboy I expect to ferment quicker and/or more vigorously. If you notice the carboy without the probe starts to get going sooner, you can move the probe to that carboy to keep it from getting warmer than intended.

Another thought is to control the WLP500 since its max recommended temperature is lower.

For example, I am making a pale and IPA this weekend and will ferment in the same chamber. The pale with Wy1056 and IPA with Wy1217. Wy1217 tends to ferment more vigorously, so I will tape the probe to the IPA. I like both yeasts in the low-mid 60s, so I set my controller to 64. Maybe one will get a degree or too warmer than the other, but will still be in my preferred range.

 

[TastyAdventure]

I put the probe on the carboy I expect to ferment quicker and/or more vigorously. If you notice the carboy without the probe starts to get going sooner, you can move the probe to that carboy to keep it from getting warmer than intended.



Another thought is to control the WLP500 since its max recommended temperature is lower.



For example, I am making a pale and IPA this weekend and will ferment in the same chamber. The pale with Wy1056 and IPA with Wy1217. Wy1217 tends to ferment more vigorously, so I will tape the probe to the IPA. I like both yeasts in the low-mid 60s, so I set my controller to 64. Maybe one will get a degree or too warmer than the other, but will still be in my preferred range.

That's what I was thinking. I've heard WL500 can be a slow starter (and my two side by side starters confirm this) so I was going to put temp control on the other (3522).

Thanks for all the input!

 

[Dog House Brew]

I do this all the time. I just pick the more aggressive yeast and tape my thermocouple to it. I'm brewing the next 2 days and will have an IPA with
wlp007, and a Kolsch with Giga021. I'm going to ferment 007 on the cool side and 021 on the warm side.

 

[Natdavis777]

I always ferment two vessels at the same time since I do 10 gal. I always tape to one, and both usually stay in tandem. If I do split yeasts, I make sure each are in similar temp range profiles, so I'm not pressed for one specific temp over another

 

[govner1]

I'm going to ferment 2 batches with different yeast side by side in my fridge that has an STC. Where do I put the temp sensor? If I put it on one bucket, it will regulate the temp of that beer, but not the other. The other, having different yeast, will have a different rate of activity and therefore different temp, even though they are in the same chamber.

Am I thinking about this the right way? What should I do to best control the temps of both beers?

My strains are 3522 Ardennes and WL500 Chimay...

I frequently have up to six carboys in my ale chamber since I split 6 gal batches. I have a small fan that runs constantly an place my temp probe in the middle of the chamber.
As someone RKS mentioned, I also use the stick on fermometers on each carboy.
If I'm doing any Belgians I plan ahead so that I can run the temps up to the mid 70°'s or higher.

 

[TastyAdventure]

This is all great input! Thanks all!

 

[mgortel]

Here is what I do.....this requires some $$ investment though.....

I have (3) Johnson temperature controllers.....

One I use to set the temp of my fermentation chamber (a chest freezer)...it will cycle on and off to maintain my temp.

The other (2) are used to monitor and control temp of each bucket/carboy

As an example here is what I would do if I had 2 different beers to ferment

beer #1...ferment at 62F
beer # 2...ferment at 68F
I set my ferm chamber temp to maybe 57F

Each bucket/carboy gets a heater wrap and a thermowell.
Each heater wrap is plugged into its respective controller which is set at appropriate temperature

Beer 1 controller set at 62F
Beer 2 controller set to 68F

The heater wraps will turn on and off as needed to maintain temperature in the cooler ambient chamber.

The cooler chamber also acts to keep fermentation temps from rising too high during peak fermentation

This setup allows me to control independent beer temps precisely.

Heater wraps will actually keep your beer up to 15-20 degrees warmer than ambient.....I buy my thermowells at Williams brewing....419 Johnson controllers you can buy just about anywhere including Williams...same with heater wraps.