Cedar Rapids Brewing Society

tony b wrote:Sounds like that fridge was "free" (came with the house), so what do you have to lose if you just go for it and try it? Just sayin'

Absolutely true. I asked andrewmaixner what he would want for the controller. The other one for $30 is much cheaper than I thought too. I went to the BIY store finally to get the additional airlocks that I needed, and they had one for like $200.

That was probably the Ranco 2-stage controlled, wired with 2 outlets (one for heating, one for cooling). Even on MoreBeer, they run around $175. That's what make the InkBird that Matt recommended a nice choice. It wasn't around when I got my Ranco or I'd have jumped on it.

tony b wrote:That was probably the Ranco 2-stage controlled, wired with 2 outlets (one for heating, one for cooling). Even on MoreBeer, they run around $175. That's what make the InkBird that Matt recommended a nice choice. It wasn't around when I got my Ranco or I'd have jumped on it.

That sounds right. And the unit has a memory setting, so if it loses power, it will pick up where it left off. This is a little fancier than what I am looking for. If I ever began to turn a profit from this (laws be damned), then it would make sense.

MSattler wrote:

tony b wrote:Sounds like that fridge was "free" (came with the house), so what do you have to lose if you just go for it and try it? Just sayin'

Absolutely true. I asked andrewmaixner what he would want for the controller. The other one for $30 is much cheaper than I thought too. I went to the BIY store finally to get the additional airlocks that I needed, and they had one for like $200.

I believe this is the dual stage (heat/cold) that matt is refering to: https://www.homebrewing.org/Inkbird-Dua ... _7404.html
I do not know if it has power-loss memory.

$20 for the homebuilt one I have, to get it out of my basement, haha. It's a STC-1000, so not as user-friendly to program, but very common for homebrewers. Lots of tutorials on google.

andrewmaixner wrote:

MSattler wrote:

tony b wrote:Sounds like that fridge was "free" (came with the house), so what do you have to lose if you just go for it and try it? Just sayin'

Absolutely true. I asked andrewmaixner what he would want for the controller. The other one for $30 is much cheaper than I thought too. I went to the BIY store finally to get the additional airlocks that I needed, and they had one for like $200.

I believe this is the dual stage (heat/cold) that matt is refering to: https://www.homebrewing.org/Inkbird-Dua ... _7404.html
I do not know if it has power-loss memory.

$20 for the homebuilt one I have, to get it out of my basement, haha. It's a STC-1000, so not as user-friendly to program, but very common for homebrewers. Lots of tutorials on google.

Does the one you built have a temperature probe with it?

MSattler wrote:Does the one you built have a temperature probe with it?

probably, but I'd have to look and confirm.

andrewmaixner wrote:

MSattler wrote:Does the one you built have a temperature probe with it?

probably, but I'd have to look and confirm.

I dug it out, not only does it have a temperature probe, but I had added an 1/8" aux plug to the temperature probe plugin make it more convenient. Separate Heat/Cool lights and plugins.

Andrew - PM sent. One last question... So the yeast that didn't start fermenting right away (also the one where I added the most water/sediment) is still going strong, while the other one has pretty much finished fermenting. The recipe doesn't say to rack into a secondary, however the one that is still going strong has A LOT of sediment that is circulating through the beer. Even though the recipe doesn't call for a secondary, isn't it generally good practice to do that? Should I do it before the rest (where you increase the temperature), before it drops down to just above freezing? I do not want off flavors in the beer from setting on the yeast cake for too long.

MSattler wrote:Andrew - PM sent. One last question... So the yeast that didn't start fermenting right away (also the one where I added the most water/sediment) is still going strong, while the other one has pretty much finished fermenting. The recipe doesn't say to rack into a secondary, however the one that is still going strong has A LOT of sediment that is circulating through the beer. Even though the recipe doesn't call for a secondary, isn't it generally good practice to do that? Should I do it before the rest (where you increase the temperature), before it drops down to just above freezing? I do not want off flavors in the beer from setting on the yeast cake for too long.

In general, transferring normal (not high gravity) beers has more risk of oxidation then is worth it. Homebrew scale is different from commercial scale also, which is where the advice originated.
Wait for fermentaiton to finish, let it rise to 65F-70F for a couple days, keg/bottle it.
"too long" means many months. I just transferred one that I had not moved for 3.5 months, and it had no discernible off-smell.
I had a cider sit for 6 months once, and it did have aroma issues, and was dumped.
I believe that temperature, alcohol%/pH (stress), etc can affect that too.

I second this. I rarely do a secondary. If I am going to secondary it is because I am adding oak, fruit, making a sour. I dry hop in the primary then keg. For lagers I finish primary, cold crash for a few days, keg and lager in the keg.

My first lager, I fermented and "fast lagered" all in the primary...and then into the keg.....I am pretty sure I used the Yard Sale wort from the Wort Rally.

I used the Czech Budejovice Lager Yeast, and I had zero off flavors...it came out nice and clean.

Another point to remember is that during the lagering phase the yeast are not dead and are not at risk of autolysis. They are merely at a lower rate of metabolism and are slowly cleaning up the beer. I wouldn't worry about the yeast cake.

However, there's the question of what happens to the trub in that time. That I don't know and defer to our learned colleagues on this forum.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

Don't be surprised if your chamber smells of sulfur....that is a good thing and typical when using lager yeast.

The chamber definitely smells like Satan's incense... That is for sure. While it is fun to watch the ever revolving trub lava lamp every time I open the fridge, I wouldn't want that in the finished product. The yeast has DESTROYED it though. Some of the chunks are golf ball sized, while other chunks are small. The yeast are definitely making sure no sugar remains. I am glad I put it in a carboy, because this is fun to watch.

How did your Märzen turn out tasting?

I have a couple of Märzens planned myself.


Dean