Tilt - Does it replace hydrometer?

[WaltG]

My tilt does some funny things like that as well. For example. I think it just gets some Krausen stuck to it or something.
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I get the same

 

[eric19312]

My tilt does some funny things like that as well. For example. I think it just gets some Krausen stuck to it or something.
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What was actual FG on that batch?

 

[trav77]

What was actual FG on that batch?

That ended up at 1.012 but took another funny bump toward the end. I’ve taken a few hydrometer measurements along the way on this one and they were always +/- 1 point vs the tilt. Hard to say what the tilt value really is though since it tends to fluctuate. Really would be good to incorporate some moving average/smoothing or such.

 

[trav77]

Dryhopping an NEIPA during fermentation definitely throws it for a ride... can you guess at what point the hops went in?

 

[don_bran321]

I've only used my tilt once since I've bought it. It seems pretty spot on to me for the original and final of the first batch.
My question to you all is how do you know your hydrometer isnt off as opposed to the tilt?
In my experience so far with my electric brewery is once calibrated the electric Tempurature sensors are reload than the manual ones so could this be the same for the gravity?

 

[day_trippr]

Well, let's be honest here, hydrometers have been around forever and are produced in the gazillions.
I'd certainly trust a hydro reading over a Tilt...

Cheers!

 

[WaltG]

So after using my tilt a few times here's what I found.

Good

- OG is right on
- temp us right on ( given 15 min or so to adust for changes(
- will tell you exactly when active fermentation starts.

Bad
- after krausen forms it's not accurate.
- not accurate for FG.


Overall its good to watch temps. You can also see when fermentation slows for things like diacytl rest but it's still imperfect. Would I buy it again for $135? Probably not. Would I for $75? Probably.

 

[trav77]

Yeah this is pretty much my experience with it as well. The more krausen, the wilder it gets. This NEIPA I'm currently fermenting with a top cropping strain + primary dry hopping makes the tilt so inaccurate it's essentially useless during active fermentation.

I have also noticed that even when calibrated, it seems to read especially inaccurate FG when decreasing temperature. Not sure what the nuts and bolts behind the scenes are regarding calibration, but would probably benefit from a non-linear calibration curve (assuming that isn't already the case?).

So I'd agree.. it's quite useful for OG, temp (although my ferm chamber controller setup already reads this through a thermowell so not useful to me), seeing when fermentation starts is handy although at the end of the day, I don't really take any action based on this. While the FG per se is often inaccurate, you can see the general trend when fermentation is finishing up that SG is no longer decreasing. This is nice for timing when to take a final hydro sample and cold crash.

Haven't done a lager with it yet - my hope is that in the absence of lots of krausen it will be more accurate and that it will give me a rough idea of when I can start increasing temperature toward the end of fermentation to speed up attenuation and diacetyl rest.

So yeah, it hasn't changed my life. I still like using it but it really has a few caveats. Invest in other gear first.

 

[don_bran321]

Lost on you...

think of it this way. A mechanical clock vs a digital clock. They both do the same thing. The mechanical clock is older but made of "better materials"
Both day different times... which one do you trust?

 

[don_bran321]

think of it this way. A mechanical clock vs a digital clock. They both do the same thing. The mechanical clock is older but made of "better materials"
Both day different times... which one do you trust?

just bc the old way worked does it necessarily make it better /correct. That's all I was saying. I would haver to put them both to the test.

 

[Kmar48]

My last batch was the first time using my TILT, and I'm very pleased with its performance. It was a weissbier and the first time I've had to use a blow-off tube so I expected to get wacky readings once fermentation took off and the krausen peaked. The chart is the profile I got from the TILT and my hydrometer had the same OG of 1.053 but a final gravity of 1.012 (TILT read 1.010). This is within the stated error on the TILT of +/- 0.002. I will still check the FG with the hydrometer but I'm glad to say it has worked well so far.

 

[day_trippr]

think of it this way. A mechanical clock vs a digital clock. They both do the same thing. The mechanical clock is older but made of "better materials"
Both day different times... which one do you trust?

Given a hydrometer reading is not subject to riding a crest of krausen like a Tilt your analogy is erroneous.
That's all I'm saying...

Cheers!

 

[mongoose33]

Back to the merits of the tilt....

...I've got one working right now. It let me know when I was about halfway attenuated so that I could begin ramping up temperature in my dark lager. When it stabilizes (10 minutes ago it read 1.013), I'll presume it's done. I'll take a little sample to double-check with a hydrometer, and that's that.

Do we need one? No. Is it helpful? It is for me. Is it expensive for what it is? Maybe. I'm using it in part to gauge when to seal off the conical and let it self-carb, so for that purpose it's useful. I'm trying to implement LODO techniques to see if they're worth the effort, and being accurate as to when I do things, well, that eliminates an alternative explanation for results.

I made some pretty darned good beer before the Tilt ever showed up on my doorstep. It's a convenience I like, and helps me brew beer using processes that are part of my current regime. I expect that without the Tilt, I'd still brew good, maybe great, beer. Heck, I have a California Common in a Bigmouth Bubbler conditioning. No tilt. I guess I'll have to trust my process w/o it.

 

[day_trippr]

I didn't mean to leave the impression I'm anti-Tilt, I actually think it's a decent execution of the concept.
I'm just commenting on the comparative accuracy of a hydro and which one I'd trust more - if I actually felt the need to track or even check gravity.

Tbh, after I've done a recipe once I rarely do any post-pitch gravity checks when I brew it again...

[edit] I think fermenting in glass has a lot to do with that...

Cheers!

 

[Virginia_Ranger]

To the comments about krassen affecting Tilt readings --- I just fermented under low pressure (12-14 PSI, 75-78F) and used the Tilt for readings and didn't get crazy readings, just steady readings all the way toward FG. Keeping it under pressure probably kept the krassen low and have I heard cocerns about how CO2 would affect the Tilt but it seems to have all worked out well. The beer is probably my best this year so far (out of 5 batches all IPAs)!

 

[mongoose33]

To the comments about krassen affecting Tilt readings --- I just fermented under low pressure (12-14 PSI, 75-78F) and used the Tilt for readings and didn't get crazy readings, just steady readings all the way toward FG. Keeping it under pressure probably kept the krassen low and have I heard cocerns about how CO2 would affect the Tilt but it seems to have all worked out well. The beer is probably my best this year so far (out of 5 batches all IPAs)!

I just pulled a sample today from a fermentation started last weekend. Tilt said 1.012; the measured hydrometer sample indicated about 1.0125. Pretty close. I use a final gravity hydrometer for that reading, the one with the limited range (.098 to 1.020).

This is not to say the Tilt can't be confused by krausen.

It can even be confused by a less-than-competent brewer. When I dropped my Tilt in this time and replaced the chilling coil, the Tilt would only read 1.017, despite my putting in wort that had a gravity of 1.053. I opened it back up, and discovered that I had managed--don't know how--to get the Tilt inside the coil. It simply couldn't tilt enough. I dislodged it from inside the coil, and since then has produced decent readings.

 

[fnffishcore]

I use https://www.brewstat.us/

+1 for Brewstat.us I also already have one of those little cubical security cameras in my shed, so I aim it at my iPhone and temp controller on top of my ferm chamber. Just for gits n' shiggles.