Track fermentation temp in brew session

White Haus Brews

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Hello brewing friends,

I was thinking tonight about how important fermentation temp is to how beer turns out and how it would be nice to look back at previous brew sessions to see what I had done for previous batches.

My feature request is for a way to track my fermentation temp over time. Something like adding a brew log for the fermentation temp. This would be even more useful with a graph showing your temps over time.

Let me know if you have any questions! Thanks :)
Cory
 
Hello brewing friends,

I was thinking tonight about how important fermentation temp is to how beer turns out and how it would be nice to look back at previous brew sessions to see what I had done for previous batches.

My feature request is for a way to track my fermentation temp over time. Something like adding a brew log for the fermentation temp. This would be even more useful with a graph showing your temps over time.

Let me know if you have any questions! Thanks :)
Cory
I know @Ozarks Mountain Brew has a arduino gadget that he tracks his ferment temp with. You may want to go that route if your into data recording i know ive seen a post from another forum member tracking fermentation chamber temp and actual wort temps and graphed the minor changes in temperature.
 
I use a refractometer and a spreadsheet to convert the values.
 
Honestly I'm not looking for anything too complicated. I currently don't have a ferm chamber and just have the stick-on thermometer on my fermenters and a couple times a day look to see what temps I'm hitting. Just thought it would be useful to be able to easily see this data in it's own section from past brew sessions.

Thanks for the tips though. Ozark - That looks intense (also pretty awesome) butI have no idea how I'd even get started with that :p
 
Here is my .02. I have been fermenting things for quite some time (pickles, sauerkraut, kimchee, yogurt, carrots, olives, cider, now beer) and one of the most important things you can do is get your fermentation temperature to the proper target and keep it there. So recording fluctuations is pointless unless your goal is consistency. After many failures at fermenting vegetables I finally figured that out. Nothing like pickles that taste like dirty socks.

Putting together a temp stable fermentation chamber is the best thing I ever did for my fermentation adventure. There are lots of ways to do it. I got a chest freezer and an inkbird controller. The probe goes in a thermowell that is directly in the wort. I have a heater inside the freezer too but it rarely comes on (I live in CA too). Additionally I added a timer that switches the power to the freezer off and on (for example ten minutes on 20 minutes off) so I don't overshoot the target..

I think the whole thing cost ~$350 but it opened a whole world of successful fermentations. I don't have to wait until winter any more (when there are no cucumbers)

In a nutshell I focus on target temperatures not fluctuations. Automation will make you far more likely to stick with the endeavor. I learned that from 25 years of having a gigantic reef aquarium LOL (but that's a different story)
 
Hey @ChicoBrewer it's on the list of things to buy/build I just haven't got there yet. For now I choose beer style and yeasts based on the temperature I expect my beer to stay around (usually I am able to keep it stable within about 5 degrees where it is in the house). My goal is consistency and being able to test out different temps over different batches (which of course will be more useful once I have temp control) but even now am looking for an easy way to look back when I'm tasting a beer as a guide to what I might be tasting. Cheers!
 
Hey @ChicoBrewer it's on the list of things to buy/build I just haven't got there yet. For now I choose beer style and yeasts based on the temperature I expect my beer to stay around (usually I am able to keep it stable within about 5 degrees where it is in the house). My goal is consistency and being able to test out different temps over different batches (which of course will be more useful once I have temp control) but even now am looking for an easy way to look back when I'm tasting a beer as a guide to what I might be tasting. Cheers!

Well I'm sure it helps living just east of Santa Cruz. I just spent my holiday on the central coast starting in Half Moon Bay and ending in Pismo before making a dash back to Chico. Traveling the one is amazing and the climate is well . .

Paradise LOL
 
Honestly I'm not looking for anything too complicated. I currently don't have a ferm chamber and just have the stick-on thermometer on my fermenters and a couple times a day look to see what temps I'm hitting. Just thought it would be useful to be able to easily see this data in it's own section from past brew sessions.

Thanks for the tips though. Ozark - That looks intense (also pretty awesome) butI have no idea how I'd even get started with that :p

I'm with you- I live in a pretty cool climate, and I like to start the fermentation out cooler, and then warm it up a little as the fermentation finishes. For me, that means moving the fermenter from the laundry room (cool), and into the dining room (cooler, but 3 degrees warmer than the laundry room). That's my low tech solution, but where I live makes it possible. Lagers in the basement, cool ales in the laundry room, warmer ales (65-68) in the office.

I also like the idea of putting a temperature down, and track it. It can also help if you want to try yeast strains at different temperatures to see results and compare.
 
You can get into business of controlled fermentation pretty cheaply: Find an old refrigerator, the efficiency doesn't matter since, even for lagers, it won't run that often. Get a two-stage temperature controller, a heat source like a Fermwrap or a small light bulb, plug the refrigerator into the cool side of the controller, the heat source into the hot side, plug the controller in and you are in business. My guess is under $200, assuming $50 - $75 for the refrigerator, about the same for the temperature controller and the remaining $50 for the heat source.
 
I'm with you- I live in a pretty cool climate, and I like to start the fermentation out cooler, and then warm it up a little as the fermentation finishes. For me, that means moving the fermenter from the laundry room (cool), and into the dining room (cooler, but 3 degrees warmer than the laundry room). That's my low tech solution, but where I live makes it possible. Lagers in the basement, cool ales in the laundry room, warmer ales (65-68) in the office.

I also like the idea of putting a temperature down, and track it. It can also help if you want to try yeast strains at different temperatures to see results and compare.
I do that as well - but using the temperature controller. Helps dry out the beers.
 
Beauty about ferm chambers i find is you can ramp temperture towards end of fermentation for better attenuation just by the click of a button.
 
Hello brewing friends,

I was thinking tonight about how important fermentation temp is to how beer turns out and how it would be nice to look back at previous brew sessions to see what I had done for previous batches.

My feature request is for a way to track my fermentation temp over time. Something like adding a brew log for the fermentation temp. This would be even more useful with a graph showing your temps over time.

Let me know if you have any questions! Thanks :)
Cory

Back to the original feature request instead of suggestions on how to control fermentation temps, I too would like a custom fermentation temp brew log entry. I usually set my temp to a steady temp for the first few days and then rise it up over a few more days and finally will lower it back down prior to kegging. It would be nice to have a good interface to put in those temperature changes, and also to record fermentation temperature profile targets in the recipe. Currently, I add an "other" brew log and just make a note of when i change temps or add dry hops etc.
 
I know this isnt what you want but ive record all my fermentation adjustments in the (other) section of brew log eg "fermentation showing signs its slowing down set temp to 20c free rise today" ill then have the +(so many days since brew day) so upon checking brew log when looking to brew again i can get a past glimpse at what my ferment schedule was also hop scheduled ect ect.
 
Yeah the other option is what I am using just thought a specific temp one would be nice and even cooler if you could see a graph of it over time :)
 

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