Fermentation Temperature Control

Beer_Pirate

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I've been able to keep my beers under 68 F during fermentation for the most part using the bath and frozen water bottle method, but I want to get into lagers and get more consistency with my ales. I've been looking at buying a temperature controller to use on an old fridge. Does anyone have any recommendations on which controller to go with?
 
Inkbird. You can either build one or buy one that is just plug and go.
 
I use the Johnson A421. It's simple, reliable and accurate.

If your going to do lagers, I would suggest getting a thermal well for your fermenter. One of the advantages is that when your crashing a beer to pitching temps (60ish to 42-44F) the keezer drops the temp in the chamber to 0F. The 5 gallons wort drops in temp up to 8F an hour. Once it hits it's set temperature, the freezer is turned off. It's awesome for speed.
If your using a refrigerator rather than a freezer, it takes it overnight.
 
I've got a ranco 2 stage controller. You can plug in 2 different things and control when each one goes off
 
Home dodgy DIY made STC1000 :). Cheep as chips off eBay 24$ but gotta get right voltage kit for your country.
 
STC-1000 has served me well but you do have to wire them yourself , all 4 of mine have performed flawlessly .
The inkbirds are a plug and play so unless you're comfortable/ qualified working with mains voltage power ( 240 V 15 A here ) and already own solder and heatshrink then plug and play wins every time
 
Thanks all! Looks like the inkbird is the way to go for me! Almost half the price of the Johnson and it's plug-and-play!
 
You can get an STC-1000 for about $15. I have 4 of them.
 
Go two stage and put a heat source in the fridge. It will dampen out some of the temperature fluctuations that way.
 
Yup. My temps stay within 0.3°C with two stage control.



He said Celsius!
there is hope for you yet .... just as gangsta signs are the norm here with unemployed teens and some try to claim first amendment rights ( we don't have them ) soon you'll even be thinking in metric and calling your best friends horrible names and a stranger MMMAAAAATTTE
 
What's a good heat source to use for this application?
 
I'm a little fancier: A FermWrap taped to the inside of the refrigerator. But a light bulb works fine - 25 watt is enough.

I like that. I had a desk lamp laying around so just used that. FermWrap is on the list of gadgets to buy.
 
Couldn't resist.... Make sure its not an LED light bulb. :D
 
if you set your defaults right and your not in a cold area like me you don't need one, mine never overshoots and will heat up on its own eventually
 

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