First Look - BrewsBySmith Fermentation Kit

The latest piece of brewing hardware to make it's way into my brewroom is the BrewsBySmith Fermentation Kit, I've grown so attached to it already that I don't think I could ferment another batch of beer without one. At the heart of this precision two stage digital controller is the ubiquitous STC-1000 controller. The controllers can be found online just about everywhere these days and they usually range in price from $10.00 to $22.00. Technically known as a 1.7 Inch LCD Microcomputer Temperature Controller the venerable STC-1000 controller is available in 110 volt or 220 volt models and can come with several different firmware versions. The firmware is what ties the STC-1000's hardware devices together and determines which key functions the controller will support. The firmware version is responsible for the controller's menu navigation, the order that the settings are displayed to the user and if the controller supports Celsius or Fahrenheit. The default firmware that ships with the STC-1000 off the shelf comes with support for Celsius and basic temperature control. BrewsBySmith STC-1000+ controllers ship with the latest v1.06 firmware to deliver greatly increased precision and functionality over other off the shelf model controllers.

BrewsBySmith Controller

The BrewsBySmith Fermentation Kit was shipped to my door using USPS Priority Mail 2 Day delivery and an hour after unpacking it had the STC-1000+ fermentation temperature set point configured and ready to go. The controller already had its firmware updated to v1.06 allowing me to be able to set up and read the temperature in degrees Fahrenheit which made my life a lot easier. STC-1000+ firmware supports separate adjustable delays and allowable temperature swings for both the heating and cooling outlets. It also has a tricolor LED that lights up red when the heat outlet is energized, blue when the cooling outlet is energized and the LED turns off when neither one is energized. For the serious brewer the STC-1000+ adds support for six individually programmed fermentation profiles each having ten set points for over the top control of the most complex fermentations.


Right out of the box the controller's heat outlet set point was set to 78F, so I lowered it to match my yeast's target fermentation temperature of 70F. Next I checked to see that the heat outlet's differential temperature was set to 1F to let the controller know it should energize the heat outlet whenever the temperature falls to 68.9F. The heat outlet's delay set point was already set to 5 minutes to prevent the heat outlet from cycling on and off too often.

The default set point for the cool outlet delay was set at 5 minutes and matched the heat outlet's set point. The cooling outlet's differential temperature set point was to set to 1F to let the controller know it should energize the cold outlet whenever the temperature rises to 71.1F. To control the temperature inside a refrigerator a 100 watt light bulb, or a 32 watt Fermwrap heating element, are plugged into the heat outlet of the controller and the then put inside the refrigerator. With the refrigerator 's power cord plugged into the cold outlet of the controller when temperatures fall too low the heat outlet will turn on as the cold outlet turns off.  

Paint Can Heater With 100 Watt Light Bulb

The average daily temperature where I live has been bouncing around between the low to mid 20's to upper 50's for the past few weeks and I've had no need to use the cool outlet at all to maintain a 70F set point. The controller turns on a 100 watt light bulb to power the paint can type heater sitting inside a foam lined fermentation chamber, when ever the temperature falls more than 1F below the 70F set point. The chamber is basically a finely crafted wooden cabinet, that I built myself, that's been insulated with three inch thick high density foam board top, bottom and sides. The chamber sits inside my brew room, in an unheated but insulated garage, that has been hovering between 55-60F all week. The 100 watt light bulb heater has output more than enough heat to maintain the perfect 70F temperature for the WLP-400 Belgian Witbier yeast and the foam insulation holds the heat in so well the heater hardly ever turns on.

Stopper, Thermowell, Probe And 100 Watt Clamp Light Heater

For the DIY'ers out there BrewsBySmith sells all of the parts needed to build and wire their complete Fermentation Kit. The STC-1000+ controller, stainless steel thermowell, temperature probe, fermwrap, rubber grommet, pre-machined case, outlets, power cord, 10 amp time delay fuse, optional tricolor LED and complete DIY instructions. Basically you get everything needed to build a complete Fermentation Kit except having to pay someone to assemble it for you. It's a great DIY project that will provide you with accurate temperature control over your fermentations when used with a freezer, refrigerator or to increase the functionality of a wooden fermentation chamber like the one I use. For the folks like me who would love to take on another project, but can't seem to find the time needed for building their own, BrewsBySmith sells the complete STC-1000+ Fermentation Kit delivered to your door already assembled, tested and ready to use.

The BrewsBySmith Fermentation Kit Modernized My Fermentation Chamber

Although advertized as for use with carboys, by making a one inch round hole in the lid of a plastic Ale Pail I was able to use the grommet with a bubbler airlock and the thermowell to mount the temperature probe inside the fermentor. I also mounted the temperature probe from an outdoor digital thermometer, covered with a block of Styrofoam and taped to the outside wall of the Ale Pail to display the ambient temperature inside the fermentation chamber. At the height of fermentation there was an almost three degree difference between the wort's 70.5F internal temperature and the chamber's ambient air temperature of 68F.  Using the controller to monitor and maintain the actual wort temperature, instead of the chamber's ambient air temperature, provides the most accurate temperature control over fermention. You can find detailed part descriptions, current prices and available discounts on DIY parts and completely assembled STC-1000+ Fermentation Kits at the BrewsBySmith website. Don't forget to mention that Screwy sent you. 

Indoor Electric Brew In A Bag Brewroom

A few months from now I will be installing a 220 volt recirculating infusion mash system (RIMS) in my new brewroom, I've already said goodbye to my old natural gas powered system. My previous brewroom was awesome I brewed over 100 batches in there, it was located indoors in a well ventilated basement and was powered by two natural gas burners. For me at the time this was a really beautiful setup, after some initial trial and error in the layout, it became a very efficient brewroom that was a lot of fun to use. The brewroom was big, it included enough space for a yeast lab, storage area, beer conditioning and an awesome brewing setup. I brewed on that all grain setup for three years and produced some of the greatest tasting beers ever. I looked forward to my time brewing there and inviting fellow brewers over to share recipes, beers, new ideas and to lend a hand from time to time. 

High Gravity Electric Brew In A Bag

Being only months away from moving into the new place I decided that building my next brewroom around an electric brewing system would be the best way go. I'll admit at first I had no idea exactly what the pros and cons of using electric were versus gas powered brewing systems. I soon found myself doing a ton of research to learn everything I could about the electric option and it's benefits over gas. Understanding the power line size was pretty straightforward, there's a lot of useful information on the manufacturer websites to help with that and other concepts. 

A dedicated 220 volt 30 amp GFIC is used to power a 4 wire 30 amp receptacle located near the brewing area and as with any indoor brewroom setup adequate ventilation is an absolute necessity. With electric brewing though we only need to exhaust boil vapors and brewing aromas to maintain a safe and comfortable working environment. Unlike gas powered systems electric brewing systems don't consume oxygen and they don't produce poisonous carbon monoxide so there's no need to worry about exhausting poisonous fumes too. There are other things to consider when comparing electric verses gas like the lower installation cost of a 30 amp 220 volt electric line compared to installing a gas line to power the brewing system.

Indoor brewrooms powered by gas burners have to be well ventilated to quickly remove poisonous combustion gases and replace them with fresh makeup air. As the volume of air required to maintain a safe and healthy brewroom environment gets higher the more cubic feet per minute (CFM) of fresh air the exhaust system will need to remove and replace. In my gas powered brewroom I used two 7,000 btu gas burners to heat the mash and boil the wort for a combined rating of 14,000 btus. 

Using the same cfm calculations published by John Blichmann in BYO Magazine for their November 2012 issue the 14,000 btus created by the gas burners divided by 30 require approximately 450 cubic feet per minute of make up air to change the air in the brew room. The electric powered brewroom will measure approximately 20 feet by 20 feet by 10 feet high and hold nearly 4,000 cubic feet of space. When 4,000 cubic feet is multiplied by the 8 air changes per hour it comes out to 32,000, then further dividing 32,000 by 60 produced the 533 CFM needed to change the brewroom air about 8 times every hour.

Room Dimension	Change Room Air
Length   Feet	Every  Minutes
Width   Feet	Size   Cubic Ft.
Height   Feet

As far as heating efficiency goes a gas burner loses about 50% of it's BTU rating because the heat produced by the flame rapidly radiates outward and away from the wort in the brew kettle. Electric powered kettles are 100% efficient because the heating elements are in contact with the wort at all times. Due to these major differences in heating efficiencies an electric heating element rated at 5,000 watts is capable of heating wort at the same rate as an 18,000 BTU gas burner. The standard calculation used to convert watts to BTUs per hour is to take the wattage of an electric heating element and times it by 3.412, the answer represents the number of BTUs. (Example: A 220 volt 5,000 watt heating element times 3.412 converts to 18,766 btus per hour.)