How are most people here measuring their fermetation temperature?
Posted: Sat Oct 15, 2016 3:51 pm
Rather than post this in my 'never ending story' of cold fermentation woes, I thought it might deserve its own thread as it may be helpful to others in the future.
How are most people measuring their fermentation temps ? I see Brandon for instance has a sleeve of insulating material, and slides his probe down there to measure the keg wall temp.
I have a thermowell that protrudes into the centre of the fermenting beer, and reads the temp at the heart of it. I constantly take readings of the internal temp, and adjust the ambient carefully to juggle the desired temp. What I have observed, is that there can be a difference between wall temp, and temp in the centre of the liquid, of up to 1C (1C warmer in the centre), or possibly more. My fermenter is about 11 inches in diameter, so quite a bit wider than a corny keg, which is no doubt exaggerating the temp difference between wall and centre.
Prior to attempting the cold ferment method, I had my temp probe stuck to the fermenter wall, under a bunch of foam to insulate from the ambient fridge temp. This previously gave me good results, so I am now questioning the thermowell, and wondering if I should return to a set up similar to Brandon's.
For example, to maintain 8C in the centre of the beer, I need to run an ambient temp of about 6.7C. Obviously the yeast on the outside closest to the fermenter wall will be less unhappy, and progressively happier towards the centre where it is warmer.
What are people's thoughts ?
P.S my thermometer is accurately calibrated.
How are most people measuring their fermentation temps ? I see Brandon for instance has a sleeve of insulating material, and slides his probe down there to measure the keg wall temp.
I have a thermowell that protrudes into the centre of the fermenting beer, and reads the temp at the heart of it. I constantly take readings of the internal temp, and adjust the ambient carefully to juggle the desired temp. What I have observed, is that there can be a difference between wall temp, and temp in the centre of the liquid, of up to 1C (1C warmer in the centre), or possibly more. My fermenter is about 11 inches in diameter, so quite a bit wider than a corny keg, which is no doubt exaggerating the temp difference between wall and centre.
Prior to attempting the cold ferment method, I had my temp probe stuck to the fermenter wall, under a bunch of foam to insulate from the ambient fridge temp. This previously gave me good results, so I am now questioning the thermowell, and wondering if I should return to a set up similar to Brandon's.
For example, to maintain 8C in the centre of the beer, I need to run an ambient temp of about 6.7C. Obviously the yeast on the outside closest to the fermenter wall will be less unhappy, and progressively happier towards the centre where it is warmer.
What are people's thoughts ?
P.S my thermometer is accurately calibrated.