Tilt hydrometer

[BoozeMedic]

Does anyone have experience using the Tilt bluetooth hydrometer? Recommended?

Would this work in a commercial setting? My only wonder would be if it can transmit through double jacketed stainless steel tanks.

 

[beernutz]

I hate to be "that guy" but there are numerous Tilt threads out there you will find with a search.

That said IIRC people have used Tilts in double walled tanks successfully according to previous HBT posts. Mine is inside a plastic Speidel fermenter which is inside a 10 cf chest freezer and I can get bluetooth readings from the Tilt at least 20 feet away. I've had mine a few months and used it in 4 different fermentations so I don't have a ton of experience but so far I really like it.

I think I remember reading a report from at least one commercial brewer who had tried to use Tilts but was not happy with their precision. Their SG readings do vary a bit while fermentation is active but they give me at least a good idea when FG has been reached. That is my $.02 and I'm sticking with it. For alternative opinions do a search.

 

[Jtvann]

Tilt can be precise. The problem with it, is that it can be imprecise just as often.

It's great for looking at trends.

Itll get you close enough, and will stop you from pulling gravity samples over and over, if you're that type.

It "can" handle stainless steel vessels, but is not very good at it. I've got 2 Ss Brewbuckets, separated by an igloo cooler in between them. iPhone is set on top of the cooler, directly between them. It works from there. If I move it more than 5 feet away from either, its poor signal and will disconnect.

 

[mongoose33]

Tilt can be precise. The problem with it, is that it can be imprecise just as often.

It's great for looking at trends.

Itll get you close enough, and will stop you from pulling gravity samples over and over, if you're that type.

It "can" handle stainless steel vessels, but is not very good at it. I've got 2 Ss Brewbuckets, separated by an igloo cooler in between them. iPhone is set on top of the cooler, directly between them. It works from there. If I move it more than 5 feet away from either, its poor signal and will disconnect.

This is largely my experience. I have a Spike CF10 conical, and the Tilt can transmit through the tank--though it's only single-walled.

The tilt tends to misread at the high end, which isn't all that important since I always know the gravity going into the fermenter. It becomes much more accurate at the low end, typically within .001 or .002 of measured final gravity. Last two times, it hit it exactly.

Since there's always some krausen residue on top of the tilt, it may not be perfect in its readings at the end. But like @Jtvann I'm using it more for trends, and to have a good idea when to close up the fermenter and let it self-carbonate (looking for about 7 points remaining in fermentation).

 

[Derp]

Does anyone have experience using the Tilt bluetooth hydrometer? Recommended?

Would this work in a commercial setting? My only wonder would be if it can transmit through double jacketed stainless steel tanks.

A recent post from Tilt's Facebook page:

We have a Tilt repeater to boosts the Bluetooth signal of the Tilt for big/commercial fermenters. We're beta testing currently. It will be available for sale in the coming weeks.

 

[day_trippr]

It's fascinating to think an actual large brewery with huge fermentors would toss in a Tilt for anything more than amusement...

Cheers!

 

[Hwk-I-St8]

TLDR: I really like mine.

I literally saw this as the first thread of interest after coming from my Brewer's Friend Brew Session that shows my fermentation live via a Tilt hydrometer. I love the thing. I don't use it for actual gravity measurements per se, but more to watch the fermentation trend. That way I can have a really good idea when to add bio-transformation hop additions or when to raise the temp for a diacetyl rest.

With Brewer's friend, there's a dashboard that shows real time temp, gravity, ABV and attenuation.

As far as accuracy, I calibrated mine once each battery change. This is the second batch on this battery with the first being several months ago. I took a OG measurement before pitching yeast and the Tilt showed the same gravity as my refractometer. In the past, the average final gravity measurement from the tilt has been within a point of what I got with my hydrometer.
While fermentation is in progress, the wort temp varies as the fermentation raises temp and my inkbird controlled freezer drops it back down in a fairly consistent cycle. The gravity goes up and down (with the obvious overall downward trend) with temp cycle, which I would expect. At the end of fermentation, the temp fluctuations and associated gravity fluctuations level out.

 

[afro_lou]

Agreed about a Tilt going in a commercial fermenter [emoji1787]
But! I’d be very interested in a repeater/range extender of sorts... I use mine in a 1/2bbl sanke fermenter inside an upright freezer with a raspberry pi logging, and the pi has to be inside the freezer to read the Tilt, which puts it out of the range of the WiFi, which makes live monitoring difficult...