BeerBug

[delzep]

Traditional hydrometer in the beer at all times

Then simply install a webcam inside the bucket to monitor it which you can view online at any time

The BeerCam™ 8-)

[JimmyM]

Yeah but then you need to prick about with imaging software to actually read the value and graph it over time.

[delzep]

Just get boffins to do that bit

[Garry]

Could you use a scales or load sensor under the FV to measure the gravity?

If you know that your FV weighs 23.5kg with 23l of water, and it weighs 24.6kg with 23l of wort, am I right in saying that the SG would be 1.047 (24.6/23.5)?

Using a scales would mean you don't need to have anything inside the FV.

[Ciderhead]

like the people, me included, that buy cctv monitors for their first borne.
like my beer my last one was brought up by wolves

[Padraic]

co2 bubbles and yeast might interrupt the readings but I think your hydrometer might be a good plan!

[DEMPSEY]

Rising co2 bubbles might cling to the hydrometer and so cause a wrong reading.

[RichC]

I'd love one of these!!
I wonder could something be made using the internals of a high precision scales like these http://bit.ly/YMhQt6 and say a 5gram weight that's slightly more dense than the lightest wort or with the density of water. If the weight remains steady for 48 hours(ish) you're at FG. To eliminate disturbance from rising co2 an average could be read. Any ex coke dealers on the forum that would have a precision scales they don't use anymore so I could dismantle it?

[DEMPSEY]

Looked at some of the video's and they appear to have a unit that you drop into the wort and read the information wirelessly,now thats a clever one . I want one 8-)

[Tom]

Thank me after the first million Euros.

A wireless device that floats in the fermenting wort, with a conductive strip up the side, which measures the depth to which the floating device has sunk, which would be higher initially, lower later, and can be compensated for temperature. The strip would act like a variable resistor.

You can have that. Put some proper punctuation points in before you take it to the den though.

[RichC]

Would krausen cause a problem with the conductive strip? How else could a self contained unit like that measure its own depth?

[Will_D]

Any ex coke dealers on the forum that would have a precision scales they don't use anymore so I could dismantle it?

They are about €20 on the bay for a scale that read to 10 mili-grams

I paid about the same in a locksmith shop in Manchester. They had a huge range on offer!! Hmm at the time I wondered why?

Also google Arduino and weighing scales! A lot of good info there

I don't believe that a weighing chip would be any more expensive than say a solid state 3 axis accelerometer that can be bought for about $5

Didn't someone in NHC offer to get free samples of some devices from a company he used to work for??

Some devices are analogue ie voltage is proportional to weight others are digital and output an ascii string with the weight and other information.

Both easy peasy for an Arduino!

The Bluetooth/Wifi data i/fs are just pure Arduino plugins

[Jacob]

BeerBug REVIEW posted on 14.04.2013

Looks like it may take a while to deliver fully working/useful device :/

[Shane Phelan]

If it was possible to stream wort over the surface of a refractometer during a fermentation one could write a machine vision program which would convert the image in the sight to a usable number.

Wort would probably need to be filtered before streaming or it would block immediately with trub...

[Eugene O'Brien]

Fermentation converts sugars to alcohol and carbon dioxide. If you know your starting sugar concentration and you measure the CO2 formation you would be able to track the process.
Does anybody know how to reliably measure the gas given off? :-/