So looking to start my set up and something that I’m interested in monitoring is the fermentation process more specifically the pressure. i.e. when the pressure starts to stop.
Anyone else done something similar?
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What do you mean, I haven’t heard this term used with regards to primary fermentation?
The pressure in my brewing vessel, yes I can use an airlock but I want to know how strong the fermentation process is and then actually have the data to see the fermentation process slowing down by a pressure reading. Not 100% required just thought it could be quite neat to have this data.
So essentially you want to be able to gauge the fermentation activity and how active it is at a given moment. I would imagine having a gravity reading device would accomplish the same thing, no? I would definitely be interested in that.
That would be tricky because a blocked up air lock can cause an explosion especially with violent fermentations. Look at the Beer Bug or etc. it will read gravity readings at real time.
Well I was actually looking to still keep the airlock to
Release pressure. The pressure sensor would show me the highs and lows to let me know that fermentation is still active. Once I see a constant pressure and then this dip off then I know there isn’t enough pressure to move the air lock and also that fermentation is coming to an end.
I have the same interest in mine. My fermenter has a spunding valve attached to it so I can set the primary fermentation head pressure to whatever I want.
Pressure sensors I’m told do not remain efficient if under stress all the time. So, when a spunding valve hits its target max and releases some gas the sensor should get some relief. You probably want to tweak it so the relief is close to ambient pressure I suspect. The peaks (to max) and valleys (~ambient) can be examined as frequencies which would give a visual understanding of lag phase, exponential, and conditioning activities of specific yeast.
Has anyone used the Vernier sensor? It seems spark friendly I think. What does it take to hook one up and how does one integrate something like that?
How about ultrasound that measures the liquid density reduction as the sugars are digested? You could have a sensor on opposite sides of the fermentation vessel and a calibration for diameter and initial specific gravity.
Alcohol and sugar content have opposite effects.
Google for the paper: Ultrasound based measurements of sugar and ethanol concentrations in hydroalcoholic solutions.
Check out the Tilt/Brewometer thred in this forum
Stefan