I’m looking into buying one of these. Just wondering if I don’t have a dedicated iPhone or iPad to leave close to the fermenter, can I still use it? And what are the drawbacks? I assume every time I come home and come close to the fermenter I can take a reading on the app but does it not give me the graphs etc.? Thank you.
The consistency of the timing will produce a synchronized graph with a dedicated device left with the app open but there’s no reason it won’t graph on the occasions you are in range with the app open.
It graphs by sending an SG, temp, and time reading at a specified interval (determined by you) to Google sheets. Google sheets collects the data and graphs it.
You can also designate the device to send data to collect in other programs that will display it. Brewfather for instance.
You can import the completed data set to Beersmith as well as other programs.
The graphing is a great feature but it is optional. The Tilt is still useful even if you only look at the live data once in a while.
I use my sons old phone from like 5 years ago. It works great.
I just have the app on my main phone and check it intermittently. You can still make a nice graph checking it a couple times a day just lower data resolution.
I love it because I can see when my gravity has flat lined and fermentation is done without taking samples out to check. Then I can just get my official FG after transferring to the bottling bucket.
+1 to this. I do find that from time to time the reading is slightly off due to yeast stuck from high krausen. Still works great to monitor the activity and diagnose any potential problems. Seems like these could be had pretty cheaply these days.
I was lucky enough to have an extra iPod touch laying around that is still compatible with the app. I just leave it plugged in near my fermenting fridge.
I am also pretty impressed with the battery life on the Tilt.
The basic hardware is pretty cheap these days. I made my own, using parts purchased retail at a hobby electronics site:
- $21.95 ESP32 controller board with WiFi and BTLE
- $15.95 Accelerometer breakout board
- $5.95 1000 mAh batttery which has lasted me 18 days, as long as I have tested it
So the electronics costs $44 at retail prices. The packaging cost is only a tiny bit more.
My only suggestion, Trapae (if you decide to get one), is that you buy it directly from Baron Brew Equipment. They have outstanding customer service, but it’s easier for them to assist you if you buy directly from them.
Thanks everyone, just purchased one and will play with it when it gets here. My colleague has an old iPhone 6 she’s going to give me which can probably work well enough to just leave by the fermenter.
They also offer a repeater that simply echos the Bluetooth signal.
I ferment in stainless inside a fridge in the basement so the Tilt’s Bluetooth signal doesn’t make it upstairs. The repeater fixes that for me.
Since you have a spare device you won’t need a repeater. You can just leave it near the fermenter and have it log to Google Sheets or other host via the cloud as long as it has WiFi signal.