[klickitat jim]

I've been running my freezer temp probe just off the ambient air temp. Tonight I'm brewing three beers that will all go at the same temp. So as a trial run to see if it makes enough difference, I'm attaching the probe to the first batch under some insulation. Initially it read 52° but over an hour its at 54°. What I'm hoping for is stability as the yeast goes through high krausen and starts to drop. After everyone has dropped I may ramp it a degree or two per day up to 60-62° until finished. I'll report back with results.

[Jimmy K]

Looks good. Just keep an eye on them since you have three going. If the one with the probe were really active and warm, the freezer might cool the others too much.

[pinnah]

Three! Nice work! 

I just wanted to ask what kind of fermenting vessel you have there? 

[duboman]

The first time I ran my probe for ambient I found a lot of fluctuation in the the readings and things were usually running a little too cold. I started strapping the probe against the primary with some wadded up insulation to protect it and found temps became much more exact with where I wanted them to be regardless of how many vessels I have in there. I have the stick on strips on all my vessels and they would all read +/- 1 degree within the probed vessel even at varying stages of fermentation.

[klickitat jim]

Three! Nice work! 

I just wanted to ask what kind of fermenting vessel you have there?

Cambro 6 gallon polycarbonate

[klickitat jim]

Looks good. Just keep an eye on them since you have three going. If the one with the probe were really active and warm, the freezer might cool the others too much.

Three beers, ranging 1.050-040. I decided to put it on first batch because it was the biggest. So far it's the first to high krausen, the other two not far behind. They were all pitched a few degrees below target. So in theory this should work. Looks like they are all following about 12 hr lag times.

[Stevie]

You still liking those polycarbonate cambros Jim? Easy enough to lift when full?

[klickitat jim]

Oh ya. They are great.

[klickitat jim]

14 hrs since I pitched the last of the three and they're all at high krausen. Temp reading 55° and it doesn't seem to be cycling near as much as the ambient method. So far so good. I just have to remember to step it up when krausen starts to fall.

[klickitat jim]

All three at high krausen for 36~ hours so far. I've stepped it up from 55 to 57. Looking good so far.

[dzlater]

I'm curious, do you know the difference between the ambient air temp and the wort temp?
I always read that the fermenting beer can be 10 degrees warmer, I'm a bit skeptical of that with a five gallon batch.

[klickitat jim]

I don't. But it would swing wildly depending on if the heat was on or the cool. Maybe someone who doesn't use temp control could test that out and post the results.

I ferment fairly cool, not terribly worried about my beer getting too hot during high krausen, but I don't want it to drop in temp as the krausen begins to fall.

[morticaixavier]

I'm curious, do you know the difference between the ambient air temp and the wort temp?
I always read that the fermenting beer can be 10 degrees warmer, I'm a bit skeptical of that with a five gallon batch.

I'm pretty sure the experiment has been done. Temp sensor in a thermo well inside the fermenter and another in the surrounding air. 10 degrees is a little extreme except for in the biggest of beers but 5-7 is not out of the question.

[erockrph]

I'm curious, do you know the difference between the ambient air temp and the wort temp?
I always read that the fermenting beer can be 10 degrees warmer, I'm a bit skeptical of that with a five gallon batch.

I'm pretty sure the experiment has been done. Temp sensor in a thermo well inside the fermenter and another in the surrounding air. 10 degrees is a little extreme except for in the biggest of beers but 5-7 is not out of the question.

+1 - Even with just a fermometer I've seen up to 7 degree increases over ambient in a 3-gallon batch of a high-gravity brew.

[euge]

And I get little to no difference in a freezer that has a small fan moving the air around.