Beer Bug - monitors temp/abv/etc during ferm and sends to cloud

ok, i'll bite.

this is one more example of the solution to a problem nobody asked. but i am asked to "join the revolution". fair enough.

i would really enjoy having this thing. i can start a thread that plots my gravity. everyone would be really interested. that would be great. plus, i can view the data when i am on business in Hong Kong. or anywhere else in the world. also great.
sign me up!

oh yeah. a brewer would never name their fully submersible device "Bug" anything. they are fucking kidding, right? Beer Bug? man i miss the old Papazian days sometimes. this stuff makes me sad.

 

Also a post on this yesterday: http://www.brewnanny.com/

Seems like the technology to track that stuff is trickling down to the homebrewer. But do we want it? It 's not indispensable, but potentially interesting. I think the price point of these items falls and more homebrewers will start to use them out of sheer geekitude.

bill and suz's comment rings true for me too, well, maybe not quite sad. One of the reasons I like homebrewing is that there is a connection to a simpler past. Since I am a professional data collector, I'm not sure I need to incorporate more of it into my hobby.

 

Awesome gadget

 

Wonder if there's an adaptor for the PICO brew machine? ;/

 

As a scientist, I think this little gadget is pretty freakin' cool! But the price is a little too steep for my interest right now. I'd invest in one if they got below $100 but $250 is just a little ridiculous right now.

 

It's a cool gadget, but if I was a new homebrewer I can think of a lot more other gadgets and tools that I would buy first before this one. If you are a snarky old homebrew veteran with all the gadgets and money to burn, then sure.

 

I'd bite if it were ~$100. No way at $250 though.

 

Definitely priced too high. I'm a data junkie, even though I know I don't need it. But I'm also cheap. I think the price point should be no higher than a run of the mill temperature probe, maybe in the $30 - $50 range.

 

How am I supposed to get my temperature probe into my beer with that thing in the way? Knowing what temp my beer is at on any given moment is all well and good, but this thing doesn't seem to be able to relay that temp to my controller and turn on the heating or cooling source to keep it where I want it to ferment at...

 

Looks like it does temp...

You could probably do a double drill a bung plug and get it to work too...



Tech Specs
Our BeerBug's cloud connection is power by it's WiFi radio. We use the electric imp as our WiFi backbone. Learn more about electric imp here.

The BeerBug monitors specific gravity, temperature, and alcohol percentage.

• Specific gravity is acurate to +/- 0.002 g/cm3
• On board temperature is accurate to 2F (our temperature probe allows for a direct temp measurement and increased accuracy or +/- 1.5F)
• as alcohol percentage is a direct relationship of specific gravity our accuracy is a product of +/- 0.002 SG points over the range of your brew's changing gravity.

25+ days battery life - standard Micro USB charger (3' charging cable included) - adjustable (replaceable) line length for use in any vessel depth. Measurements can get strange below 34F

see more on our products page here.

 

Looks like it reads, but doesn't regulate. That would be my issue. Don't really care what my temp is at every second of the 2-3 weeks of fermentation if it is out of control.

 

I might pay $10 for one of those. Maybe. $250? No effin way.

I agree with billandsuz: Like a lot of the wireless gizmos that we see on the market lately, this seems like technology in search of a reason to exist. You don't need this thing. Nobody does. But because it is possible to make one, by god, it will be made. And someone must buy it!

 

I would recommend a Thermapen before one of these, if only because it really helps me on brew day. If I had iffy conditions for my fermentation area, I might feel differently.

 

Great share, and great find. But I have always found home brewing to be a bit more wild and fun. I love the rigid cleaning and the fact that temps must be kept in check with the proper yeasts and sg and so on and so forth. But to me and maybe some of you out there, you can't beat throwing together a kitchen sink brew and pulling out buckets of water to temp regulate. Sorry but even if it was $10 I love the constant connection with my beer and the mcgivering that comes with making each batch.

 

Yeah, you would have to get pretty fancy to control it with that data. I bet you could just use one of those carboy caps and stick your thermowell in the side port.