Luddite asking for Technical advise on Ispindels?

[The Baron]

Hi most of you will know I am a old style/old timer brewer and only use Techno when it suits. I have recently thought of having a little more control on my dry hopping adding fruit etc to beer so have thought of buying a Ispindel usb C as I can get one off Fleabay for @ £32.
Is it a good idea

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

I love a bit of tech, and I made a similar doofah but to be honest I don’t use it because it’s just as easy (for me) to run off a few ml into a trial jar. I can see the attraction for people who ferment in a closed system though.

 

[The Baron]

I just can see the control it may give me over the dry hopping and adding of fruits etc.
Who old dog new tricks

 

[fury_tea]

I've been considering this too, I think if you are expecting something to give you perfect readings this is not the tool, but for a "ballpark" idea I think they can be useful.

I'm still on the fence, there's a fair bit that can go wrong I think and it needs a bit of computer knowledge to get the best out of it. It needs a good WiFi signal so depending on where you brew you may need a WiFi repeater. I read they can get covered in Krausen and give false readings as well.

If you're willing to tinker about with it and watch some YouTube videos, you can probably get it to do what you want though.

 

[ChilledGecko]

I use a hydrometer for my OG & FG and chuck an iSpindel into the fermenter to give me an eye on how the fermentation is progressing, if your not too OCD about the actual values it gives a great window into the fermentation progress.

Give @gingerneil a ping, he was making them. I've had a few from him. He uses good components and a genuine battery - not all do!

 

[The Baron]

Exactly why i am considering one ChilledGecko not as a specific but as a eye on the progression of ferment.
Ps the ones I have looked at have a genuine Samsung battery

 

[Nottsbeer]

I've found it great for tracking fermentation and for giving an indication as to when it's finished. The temp display is also very good, recording 0.5 oC lower than my inkbird reading (situated on the side of the FV). Naturally I take OG and FG readings using my hydrometer.

 

[Dutto]

I just searched “ispindel” on this site and there was a shedload of queries that basically fell into “How do I calibrate it?”, “What is wrong with it because .. ?”, “It’s leaking so what do I do?” “Why don’t I get an accurate reading?” etc etc etc!

I can understand the desire to monitor your brewing, especially if you are really pushed for time; but I have to ask “Why?”

If you sanitised everything, if you have the correct ingredients in the correct proportions, if you are controlling the temperature etc, then whatever goes wrong will soon manifest itself and having the latest gizmo won’t stop it!

That’s my take on the “ispindel”, for whatever it’s worth!

 

[sifty]

I've bought 2 from gingerneil. Both work perfect. Love being able to monitor progress from anywhere, plus one of my fermenters does not have a tap for sampling.
Also useful to know how far through you are for temp changes etc.
Slight faff to calibrate but lots of YouTube videos to take you through it. The second one I just chucked in and it's plenty accurate...

[Edit] Woolly craft beer do excellent videos on setup/calibration...

 

[ChrisT]

Personally I wouldn't be without one, well actually two. Yes they're a phaff to calibrate, yes they get a covering of dead yeast, yes they accumulate bubbles... Do I rely on mine to tell me the actual SG at any one point, no! However, I do use it to help me know when the fermentation has finished.

I've dropped one of mine and the calibration is now off but it still tells me when the fermentation is done, I should add that I make mostly wine.

 

[gingerneil]

Lots of great feedback here - thanks!
I now send mine out batch calibrated - so they are pretty accurate. I use genuine lolin control boards, stronger USB C charging boards and UK sources genuine batteries.
As someone says above, these give an estimate of SG - but they are pretty good. I use mine to monitor the trend for dry hopping and finishing, and also use the temp output to control by brew fridge / heater.
I can give a discount via the forum as I save ebay fees - so feel free to drop me a private message if you're interested.

 

[The Baron]

Just ordered from Neil direct to save him fees and a great price

 

[Sadfield]

We've had this debate at an old homebrew club. They're great if you're in a position to act on the information they give you, say monitoring to pick the best time to dry hop or rack to secondary. However, like those cameras for monitoring pets, a bit useless if you are 20 miles away at work and Fido is just about to squat on the sofa.

 

[Theoriginalrich]

I bought one of a guy on here but it needed setting up, it sat on a shelf for months doing nothing. I finally sent it to get calibrated by assetsolution and bingo everything’s cool.
I’ve found my temp varies by 0.3c from inkbird censor and ispindel so I can adjust the temp I’m looking for.
I do spend to long graph watching though.

 

[AJA]

I'd like one, but am not sure if the wifi signal will be strong enough as I'm fermenting in corny kegs in a fridge.

 

[gingerneil]

@AJA Do you get decent wifi coverage on your phone in the fridge, but outside of the corny?
@Theoriginalrich Stu gives a good service setting them up etc - but its not that hard, and if you need to reset anything or change your setup, then you're stuck. Glad its up and running for you tho!

 

[AJA]

@AJA Do you get decent wifi coverage on your phone in the fridge, but outside of the corny?
@Theoriginalrich Stu gives a good service setting them up etc - but its not that hard, and if you need to reset anything or change your setup, then you're stuck. Glad its up and running for you tho!

2/4 bars, usable. It's the corny I was more worried about as it's a Faraday cage

 

[sifty]

Mine works fine inside a stainless fermenter inside a fridge. I do have strong wifi though as the router is in the office next to the garage/brewery...

 

[Braufather]

I've bought 2 from gingerneil. Both work perfect. Love being able to monitor progress from anywhere, plus one of my fermenters does not have a tap for sampling.
Also useful to know how far through you are for temp changes etc.
Slight faff to calibrate but lots of YouTube videos to take you through it. The second one I just chucked in and it's plenty accurate...

[Edit] Woolly craft beer do excellent videos on setup/calibration...

I also bought one from him but could never get it up and running. Need to have another go I guess but haven’t got round to it yet.

 

[fgoulding]

I bought 2 pre-calibrated ispindels which were also pre-configured for my Brewfather account.

I just use them to automatically keep a record for each brew, for roughly when to dry hop and to let me know when fermentation is complete.