4 Ways to Brew Better Beer with Fermentation Insights

All brewers strive to create the best beer possible, whether it is a dark and delicious stout or a thirst quenching IPA. Here are 4 ways that fermentation insights available through PLAATO Pro can help you make a better beer.

1. Pitch rate:
   Having a full overview of the lag time of your primary fermentation gives you valuable insight into your yeast health. After the wort has entered the fermenter, the yeast goes from dormancy to metabolic activity. A long lag time could give you the information you need to adjust your pitch rate or freshness of your yeast for the next batch, making sure the yeast is not stressed too much in this crucial part of the fermentation. Monitoring the fermentation activity with the Plaato Pro will remove the guesswork and let you take a data driven decision.
2. The correct fermentation temperature:
   Having the right temperature during the fermentation is a key component to make great beer and being able to have full control from the very first minute will give unique possibilities to tweak the fermentation. Some brewers like to start their main fermentation at a lower temperature to let the natural heat from the yeast cell bring the temperature up to the desired point during the first 12-24 hours. Having a too low or too high start temperature might stress the yeast in a way that the yeast character will change. Having a real-time stream of fermentation data available will allow you to quickly adjust and adapt.
3. Optimize timing for dry hopping: 
   Dry hopping is a tool in beer making  that most breweries use. Making sure you get the most out of your dry hopping, Plaato Pro can help you find the ideal timing. When dry hopping too early you can risk contamination in your beer, do it too late and you risk wasting the flavors and aromas of your hops. Finding the optimal time for dry hopping will of course depend on your desired outcome, but having the gravity and temperature literally in the palm of your hand will help you greatly in finding the right time to dry hop. 
4. Create a better looking beer
   Few things are more sexy than a crystal clear beer on a warm day or after a long day at work, and cold crashing at the right time will help you in achieving this. This very effective method helps the yeast and other particulate matter drop down to the bottom of the fermenter, and to be easily dumped out. But doing this too early might harm the beer as fermentation is not complete, so setting up a notification through the Plaato system will alert you about the right time to start the cold crashing of any given fermentor.