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rickysa
Joined: 13 Mar 2013 Posts: 136 Location: Southern Pines NC
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Link Posted: Tue Oct 08, 2019 1:12 pm Post subject: I've got a fix I'd like to share!! |
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I have been quite disappointed with my brewing results, not at all with the awesome brewing set up Kal has taught us to build, just with the beer that came out the end.
Turns out every different recipe had a banana off-flavor....esters. Too warm a ferment. I'm using a freezer with a gauge to set the fermentation temp (Blichman conical) which keeps it pretty constant.
However, I got to thinking that since fermentation is exothermic, the temp in the fermenter is probably warmer that the temp set on the freezer control.
In speaking with Blichman, I figured I'd drill a hole in the top of the fermenter, drop a SS tube with a rubber stopper to hold it in the lid, and drop the thermal probe down the tube into the fermenting wort.
Surprise!! It worked!!. No more banana-beer.
Hope everyone is well!
Rick
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kal Forum Administrator
Joined: 12 Dec 2010 Posts: 11121 Location: Ottawa, Canada
Drinking: Pub Ale, Electric Creamsicle, Mild, Pliny the Younger, Belgian Dark Strong, Weizen, Russian Imperial Stout, Black Butte Porter
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Link Posted: Tue Oct 08, 2019 2:18 pm Post subject: |
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Hi Rick,
Definitely important to look at the actual temperature of the wort being fermented as that's what matters.
As I'm re-writing all of my recipes for the new website I'm adding a note to make sure it's clear that the recommended fermentation temperature is the actual wort temperature, not the ambient temperature. The two can (sometimes) be wildly different. Depends on the setup. So mentioning ambient temp is meaningless. That said, on many setups the two (ambient vs wort temp) may be fairly close. Again, depends on the setup.
What did you have the temp controller set to to cool the freezer when you ran it that way? How were you measuring the temperature of the freezer exactly? I.e. where was the temp probe?. If it was in the air taped to the side of the freezer it would quickly drop in temp when the freezer kicks on and not give enough time to chill down the wort. Best to have it in something with some mass (or best of course is actually in the wort as you've done now). How warm was the actual wort in relation to the actual freezer? Just curious.
What size conical do you use too? The larger the fermenter the more thermal mass you have.
Another thing you can do if you don't measure the actual wort temp is to use a fan in there to keep air moving. It can make quite the difference in helping keep the delta between the two closer.
Good luck!
Kal
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rickysa
Joined: 13 Mar 2013 Posts: 136 Location: Southern Pines NC
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Link Posted: Tue Oct 08, 2019 2:57 pm Post subject: |
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Quote: | What did you have the temp controller set to to cool the freezer when you ran it that way? How were you measuring the temperature of the freezer exactly? I.e. where was the temp probe?. If it was in the air taped to the side of the freezer it would quickly drop in temp when the freezer kicks on and not give enough time to chill down the wort. Best to have it in something with some mass (or best of course is actually in the wort as you've done now). How warm was the actual wort in relation to the actual freezer? Just curious. |
68 deg initially, and had the probe just laying on the fermenter. To chill the wort, I've got a second chest freezer I fill with water to chill for running through the counter-current chiller (NC ground water can be kinda warm in the summer ), so the chilled wort is usually in the low 50's-low 60's.
14 gal fermenter
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kal Forum Administrator
Joined: 12 Dec 2010 Posts: 11121 Location: Ottawa, Canada
Drinking: Pub Ale, Electric Creamsicle, Mild, Pliny the Younger, Belgian Dark Strong, Weizen, Russian Imperial Stout, Black Butte Porter
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timn8or
Joined: 07 May 2019 Posts: 6 Location: Virginia Beach, VA
Drinking: Kolsch, NEIPA, Munich Helles, Barleywine
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Link Posted: Wed Oct 30, 2019 10:14 pm Post subject: |
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Kal, on your setup, what do you set your fridge temp to if you're trying to target a specific wort temperature? I'm using the same fridge as you are, also with SS buckets, and was curious about how to handle temp control when, as you pointed out, ambient and wort temp could be very different. In the most recent batch I brewed, I had set the fridge to 64, and my Tilt reported up to 71...
_________________ IG: @hoptimal_solutions
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kal Forum Administrator
Joined: 12 Dec 2010 Posts: 11121 Location: Ottawa, Canada
Drinking: Pub Ale, Electric Creamsicle, Mild, Pliny the Younger, Belgian Dark Strong, Weizen, Russian Imperial Stout, Black Butte Porter
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timn8or
Joined: 07 May 2019 Posts: 6 Location: Virginia Beach, VA
Drinking: Kolsch, NEIPA, Munich Helles, Barleywine
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Link Posted: Wed Oct 30, 2019 10:50 pm Post subject: |
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Thanks Kal, same exact fridge. To be fair, in most cases, I'm seeing exactly what you are (about 2 to 3 degrees difference). The 71 degrees was hit while fermenting a Wee Heavy which had an OG of 1.112, so it may not be a fair test...
_________________ IG: @hoptimal_solutions
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kal Forum Administrator
Joined: 12 Dec 2010 Posts: 11121 Location: Ottawa, Canada
Drinking: Pub Ale, Electric Creamsicle, Mild, Pliny the Younger, Belgian Dark Strong, Weizen, Russian Imperial Stout, Black Butte Porter
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timn8or
Joined: 07 May 2019 Posts: 6 Location: Virginia Beach, VA
Drinking: Kolsch, NEIPA, Munich Helles, Barleywine
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Link Posted: Wed Oct 30, 2019 11:11 pm Post subject: |
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I'll monitor it over the next couple of brews and see if notice a pattern. This was the first time I'd seen such a divergence. As I think about it, I'm wondering if it could just be that since the Tilt is floating at the top, the temperature could be a little higher there vs. the overall average.
_________________ IG: @hoptimal_solutions
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kal Forum Administrator
Joined: 12 Dec 2010 Posts: 11121 Location: Ottawa, Canada
Drinking: Pub Ale, Electric Creamsicle, Mild, Pliny the Younger, Belgian Dark Strong, Weizen, Russian Imperial Stout, Black Butte Porter
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timn8or
Joined: 07 May 2019 Posts: 6 Location: Virginia Beach, VA
Drinking: Kolsch, NEIPA, Munich Helles, Barleywine
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