Anyone using BrewPi, BrewBit (fermentation temp control/monitoring)

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by ronobvious2, Jun 3, 2014.

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  1. ronobvious2

    ronobvious2 Initiate (0) Aug 24, 2010 Tennessee

    Before I brew my next batch, which I plan on being NB's Pliny Legacy, I want to gave a better handle on temp control & monitoring during fermentation, so I'm just wondering & musing about using one of these (leaning towards BrewBit).

    I don't have a chest freezer or old fridge and I'm on the fence about getting one just for brewing, so I'm considering a Cool Brewing bag. https://www.cool-brewing.com/

    Having a better-than-what-I-need temp controller leaves me open to a chest freezer later. I can use the controller function of the BrewBit to turn on a fan or something to raise the temp. I'll probably just use it to monitor and add/remove water bottles as needed.

    I'm just fishing for experiences and thoughts.
     
    #1 ronobvious2, Jun 3, 2014
  2. billandsuz

    billandsuz Pooh-Bah (2,097) Sep 1, 2004 New York
    Pooh-Bah

    I haven't used this, but a lot of homebrewers used swamp coolers and other DIY contraptions before getting an outboard temp controller and a fridge. the fan with ice, t-shirt and cold water, 60 watt light bulb etc. is a pita.

    I guess an insulated bag is better than nothing to reduce temps with ice. but I wouldn't expect temperature control. not unless you plan to check the temps every few hours and add or remove ice to hit you target. good luck with that.

    check you local craigslist for used fridges, or go to the ma and pa appliance store. you can pick up a used fridge cheap. analog temp controllers are $50 or so.

    edit- I should add that plenty of brewers are perfectly happy with very low tech equipment. a cooler filled with water in the basement can work well.
     
    #2 billandsuz, Jun 3, 2014
    Last edited: Jun 3, 2014
  3. JackHorzempa

    JackHorzempa Grand Pooh-Bah (3,375) Dec 15, 2005 Pennsylvania
    Society Pooh-Bah

    A Cool Brewing Bag will not result in precision temperature control but that doesn’t mean you can’t learn to maintain a proper fermentation temperature using it.

    The thing to keep in mind is that 5 gallons of wort/beer has a lot of thermal mass and once you get it in the proper temperature range it will take a fair amount of energy to change that temperature. I would expect that you could fairly quickly learn how much ice is needed to maintain a given temperature (e.g., one 2 liter bottle for 12 hours, etc.).

    A DIY device to maintain precise temperature is a Son of Fermentation Chiller which uses ice as the cooling source and a small 3 inch fan and thermostat to maintain a set ambient temperature. Plans for building one is here: http://home.roadrunner.com/~brewbeer/chiller/chiller.PDF

    Cheers!
     
    #3 JackHorzempa, Jun 3, 2014
  4. ronobvious2

    ronobvious2 Initiate (0) Aug 24, 2010 Tennessee

    Yeah, I've already looked at that and youtube videos but I'm not interested in going through a build project for that, but thanks.
     
    #4 ronobvious2, Jun 4, 2014
  5. newtybar

    newtybar Initiate (0) Jun 5, 2014 California

    Interesting...I might need to invest in this myself. I'm also looking into brewing the NB Plinian as my first attempt at beer.
     
    #5 newtybar, Jun 5, 2014
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