Ductapeman
Member
Hi, gang, sorry this is long but I don't get much chance to talk about some of this--
Seven or eight years ago I got interested in brewing, took an all-grain course at the local supplier's and had a great time-- bought a pile of crap, two carboys (one poly, one glass which I later gave away), big pot and immersion chiller, everything I thought I'd need to do the deed starting right into whole grain work. Then the sky started to fall, and continued falling for about six years. To make a very long story as short as possible, I was up to my hips in lawyers for several years, lost my brother and my Mom and the family home, which the court thought I could get half a century's worth of stuff out in two weeks-- things got tossed several times very thoroughly and a good bit of it destroyed by rat action in storage. The last straw was losing my job of fifteen years on Christmas Eve 2020 (co. went under). So after I locked myself in a closet and stopped screaming and shaking, I have been picking up pieces and reassessing-- and getting interested in beermaking again.
I just went through as much of the stuff as I can find, and it looks like most of the stuff is still in good shape, a lot of it still in the factory wrap, so thinking about running down to the shop and picking up a kit to get started. My main issue is going to be temperature control, or the lack of it. The only place I have to work is an unheated garage, so since the winters here in the Northwest ate usually about 40-45 degrees and raining, have been thinking about building a small enclosure for the fermenter, with a heating pad or something under the vessel and some kind of controller to keep the temp stable. I could cobble up a controller out of an Arduino, but it seems like overkill, so: BIG QUESTION and the reason for this post: Does anyone use some sort of controlled-temp in their fermenting? Probably asking that wrong, but would sure appreciate some help. I have the audacity to think that this is the only real problem I should have-- sanitation is a snap, I worked running sterilizers in hospitals for several years. Thanks for listening, I'll be back in when I've got something cooking-- Lee
Seven or eight years ago I got interested in brewing, took an all-grain course at the local supplier's and had a great time-- bought a pile of crap, two carboys (one poly, one glass which I later gave away), big pot and immersion chiller, everything I thought I'd need to do the deed starting right into whole grain work. Then the sky started to fall, and continued falling for about six years. To make a very long story as short as possible, I was up to my hips in lawyers for several years, lost my brother and my Mom and the family home, which the court thought I could get half a century's worth of stuff out in two weeks-- things got tossed several times very thoroughly and a good bit of it destroyed by rat action in storage. The last straw was losing my job of fifteen years on Christmas Eve 2020 (co. went under). So after I locked myself in a closet and stopped screaming and shaking, I have been picking up pieces and reassessing-- and getting interested in beermaking again.
I just went through as much of the stuff as I can find, and it looks like most of the stuff is still in good shape, a lot of it still in the factory wrap, so thinking about running down to the shop and picking up a kit to get started. My main issue is going to be temperature control, or the lack of it. The only place I have to work is an unheated garage, so since the winters here in the Northwest ate usually about 40-45 degrees and raining, have been thinking about building a small enclosure for the fermenter, with a heating pad or something under the vessel and some kind of controller to keep the temp stable. I could cobble up a controller out of an Arduino, but it seems like overkill, so: BIG QUESTION and the reason for this post: Does anyone use some sort of controlled-temp in their fermenting? Probably asking that wrong, but would sure appreciate some help. I have the audacity to think that this is the only real problem I should have-- sanitation is a snap, I worked running sterilizers in hospitals for several years. Thanks for listening, I'll be back in when I've got something cooking-- Lee