Distilling Equipment Benefits of Having a Bluetooth Thermometer

When it comes to distilling with the humble pot still, I have always believed that utilizing a thermometer was, at best, a superfluous luxury. 

Vapor production with a 10% beer typically starts right around 190°F. And of course, when we are out of alcohol, the temps should be at 212°F. Therefore, temperatures in the kettle will get progressively hotter as we render the alcohol out of the kettle. 

Remember though, we can not control the temperature in the kettle as long as we are rendering out the alcohol because we are effectively changing the boiling point in the kettle as we collect alcohol. This is why collecting alcohol by utilizing a target temperature when distilling is less than optimal. 

Tracking temperature data can be a helpful tool as long as you understand that batch kettle temps cannot be controlled. Only the rate of boiling can be controlled. Temp data on a kettle is mostly relegated to helping you understand when the kettle has run out of alcohol. That understanding is also available by measuring the ABV% of the distillate stream.

For more information regarding the above assertions, check out this write up by Zymurgy Bob.

Now that we have gotten that out of the way, there are plenty of locations within the distillery environment where temperature data is absolutely important, and indeed critical. Just like with beer brewing, cooking temperatures, fermentation temperatures, and cellar temperatures are all very critical in creating uniformly consistent yield and flavor profiles.

If you are well capitalized and have a state-of-the-art control panel connected to RTDs located all over your tanks and can view all temps from your control panel… Well that’s great.

But you may also find yourself multitasking during your work day, and the ability to monitor temperatures while standing in front of your tank or while staring at your control panel may not always be helpful when you also have accounting tasks to complete, as an example.

This is where having thermometers with Bluetooth capability can really help.

Downloading the app to your phone or tablet will allow you to view temps in your facility from anywhere. The Spirit Labs app (as an example) also provides you with the ability to monitor several thermometers from a single device and set alerts or alarms.

 If you are an old guy (I am not) whose eyes can’t see the thermometer face located 15 or 20 feet in the air, the Bluetooth thermometer is a perfect way to have the temp data at your fingertips. Physical proximity becomes a non-issue.

Some models also have data logging capability if that is a tool that is needed.

The bottom line here is that Bluetooth thermometers can improve some quality-of-life issues at work by providing you with remote data collection.