And we’re d@mned glad you are!
BTW - Still looking good @ 108 hours in.
Good to know. I pitched US-05 last night at 68F as I couldn’t chill it down to fermentation temp (around 64F) with my tap water. So, I had to let it fall down to pitching temp, which I wasn’t a fan of doing. Hoping it’s okay, guess it’s gonna be a learning experience. But this morning this was still no activity. Did notice the temperature change was sucking some of the sanitizer solution from the airlock into the fermenter though. Argh.
Are you saying you pitched at 68F and then let it fall to 64F? If that’s the case, you’re fine as long as you can keep the temp from ramping back up (which active fermentation will cause to happen).
And on the airlock thing, that’s exactly the reason you put sanitizer in the airlock. No harm done.
I figured as much. Thanks for your input. I’m not used to NOT being able to chill the wort down to fermentation temps or lower. So this is kind of a first. My fermentation chamber is ranging from 58F or so to about 64F. So I don’t think it’ll be too much of an issue.
For those of you with Johnson controllers, what are your settings? Mine are:
SP = 64F
diF = 2
aSD = 10
The others are zero, I think. I seem to have about a 7 or 8 degree temp swing.
EDIT: I guess I should mention that this is my first beer with a the chest freezer and Johnson Controller. The temperature probe is dangling in the air.
Temp Prob calibrations
SD: 66 F
dif = 2
Not sure what aSD is, will look when I get home.
My temperature probe is dangling in the air too.
Price
How are you having such a temperature swing if your dif is set to two?
Mine stays off at 66 and as soon as 68 is reached, the compressor turns on.
Maybe I just did not understand what you meant.
Thanks,
Price
I’m not sure why I get the temp swings. I guess that’s why I’m asking. Some have said it’s better to put the probe in a jar of water and some say it’s better to wrap in bubble wrap and dangle in the air, blah blah blah. Just seein’ what works for y’all.
I just got my freezer yesterday and all set up, so I’m very new to this stuff. Before I had a nice cool basement to ferment in that stayed around 60F or so all the time, so I didn’t have to worry about this stuff.
The aSD is the cycle time, I think.
I don’t think putting the temp probe in water vs dangling in the air vs attaching to the side of the carboy would make a difference in the way your swings are happening.
Sure my compressor would not turn on right when I opened the door if I had the probe in a jar of water.
We would get more accurate temp readings for the beer with the temp prob attached to the side of the carboy, but don’t think it has anything to do with the large swings.
Right now I am just concerned about stable temp, so I just have the temp probe dangling.
Still don’t know why you would be having the wild swings unless that aSD cycle time needs calibration, or:
Looking at your post, the dif should make the compressor turn on 2 degrees above your set temp.
Don’t know how your temp is set at 64 with a 2 dif, but you said your high is 64 with a low of 58.
Is the controller set on heat instead of cool? I have the same setting and mine turns on at 68.
hopefully someone with some experience will answer this.
Price
I think it’s fine. The temperature just varies from 58 to 64F, which I don’t think will affect the beer at all. The beer itself is likely to be somewhere in the temperature range plus a few degrees during active fermentation, I reckon. I guess I’m not too worried about it. We’ll see how my first couple beers turn out. Thanks for you input though, man.
I have no science to back this up, nor can I say it helps my chest freezer cycle less, but I have the thermistor in a foil bubble wrap and affix it to the side of the fermenter. Ideally, a thermowell could be used, but I don’t use standard carboys for fermenting (I have 14 gallon plastic barrels for 10 gallon batches with a simple grommeted airlock).
YMMV, of course.
Gotcha. I’m starting to feel like it’s okay as long as the ambient temperature stays between 58F and 63F. The beer should be fine. Don’t see a reason to worry otherwise.
The only potential problem with controlling the air temperature is that it could make the compressor cycle more often than you want. Measuring the beer temperature would make the controller cycle for longer, less often.
I think I’ll try this out soon. How would it attach to the fermenter? Tape wouldn’t hold…
I attach mine by using enough rubber bands to stretch all the way around the fermenter.
Velcro will work, but you’ll have to wait for when the caroby/fermenter is room temp
I use blue painters tape to attach mine. Once the temp is stable (wort temp has come up to fermentation temp) and there isn’t any condensate on the carboy it works fine; before then, not so much.
I use the brew haulers for my carboys, so I stuck the probe between one of the straps and the carboy. It seems to be working pretty well. Might stick with that, see how it turns out.
Thanks, fellas.
I use a couple paper towels folded up to make a pocket for the probe, then just use duct tape to hold it to the side of the bucket. Never had a problem with it falling off.
String with a slip knot or just a long bungee cord works great. Just remember to remove the probe before lifting out the carboy - I’ve done that before! :-[