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An Guide to Temperature Controllers For Home Brewing

So far, we've fermented beer in the basement or cabinets of cooler rooms. What if you want to brew a season that requires a higher fermentation temperature, try a bearing ring, or more precisely choose a standard mild beer fermentation? We need a way to control the fermentation temperature.

Temperature control applies not only to beer fermented above or below average. Having the right temperature at the right time can benefit every batch of products.

Homebrewer had to come up with a clever way to reduce the fermentation temperature. Using the "tank cooler" method, place the fermenter in a container of ice water and cover it with a T-shirt. The theory is as follows. The T-shirt absorbs water and evaporates, keeping the beer about 10 to 15 degrees cooler than room temperature. This is a good way to keep the fermentator cold, but with a small investment, you can easily achieve accurate and consistent temperature control.

Like most temperature controllers, most temperature controllers have no unique way to do this. Today, building (or buying) a temperature controller has never been easier. If you want to immerse yourself in your own temperature controller, here's what you need to know.

Types of Temperature Controllers

There are two main types of temperature controllers.

A single-stage temperature controller can control only one output (heating or cooling). The only thing you need to worry about is keeping your fermented beer cool during the summer. This might be possible if you just need to keep the bucket at a constant temperature. Single - stage control is also the ideal choice for bearing rings.

The single-stage controller is not suitable for maintaining constant temperature during strong fermentation. Suppose you are fermenting in a basement of 55 degrees through a single-stage controller connected to a heating element. The temperature is set to 64 degrees, so it will never go below that. But what if the fermentation is active and the temperature starts to rise naturally? You can manually monitor the temperature and then switch from heating to cooling, but that can be cumbersome. Two-phase control solves this problem.

Two-stage temperature controller can control both heat and cold output. In the above example, a two-stage controller is used to start the cooler when the temperature threshold is reached to keep the fermentation chamber at the correct temperature.

Integrated Digital Temperature Controller

With a digital controller, you can set other variables, such as temperature and temperature differences, which greatly improves accuracy. The digital controller has a digital display. Analog controls are less precise and usually have a temperature change control, but have few other features.

Position of Temperature Probe

All temperature controllers use temperature probes. There is some debate about how to get the most accurate measurements, but two approaches seem to be emphasized.

If you want to measure the temperature of the liquid, you can insert the probe into the liquid. That's the idea of the protective tube. For about $25, you'll get an open plug and a hose from the hose into the fermenter. The temperature sensor is inserted into the pipe. There's also a hood model.

If the temperature sensor is too large to fit into a hot sleeve, or if you want to save money, paste the temperature sensor onto one side of the fermentor and cover all three sides of the glass with foam or bubble wrap. 

Finally, someone suggested putting a temperature sensor inside a bottle of water.

Cooling the Fermenter

Freezers or mini-refrigerators are usually used for controlled cooling. If you use a mini refrigerator, look for a single door refrigerator, portable shelves, no freezers or freezers that fold easily. You may need to remove the doorframe to fit the fermenter.

If you are using Chest Root, then read the forum topic on a different model.

If you are buying used items from a refrigerator or mini-fridge, ask the seller to connect them before the evening. That way, when you get there, you'll find it works.

Heating the Fermenter

Since we already have a fermentation chamber, it is easy to heat the fermenter. Commercial products such as brewing tape and FermWrap wrap jeans and buckets and provide heat. They cost about $30. There is, of course, a DIY approach. That's the paint pot heater. To do this, connect the bulb to an empty paint can. When the heater is placed indoors and the light bulb is lit, the room temperature will rise.

DIY or Buy from Store

This can be the biggest problem when buying a temperature controller. With stC-1000, you can buy half the price for the same price. It depends on convenience (and price) rather than saving money, but it takes more time to build something.

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