Project Prerequisites

To use Brew Bubbles, you need to use an S-lock type fermentation lock. These locks are inexpensive and readily available. There are always discussions about the ability to clean these locks. It’s my experience that a warm soap and water soak followed by a good rinse handles the nasties. For the price of the airlocks, you could replace them every few batches if you were worried.

These are not perfect airlocks. I would have preferred to devise a way to use the three-piece airlocks; however, in testing, these proved to be exceedingly dependant upon the airlock fill level to work reliably. Still, Brew Bubbles should take its signal from any input. The future may hold additional options.

If you use a blow-off-tube, you would remove that and replace it with the S-lock when blowoff danger has subsided. I have also had excellent results using FermCap-S and not using a blowoff tube despite vigorous fermentation.

You need an ESP8266 controller and some other parts detailed on the Device Assembly page in addition to the S-lock. The Device Assembly page has a complete BOM for Brew Bubbles.

Add a tiny bit of time and some skill you can pick up making a couple of these devices, and you have yourself an easy to make, low-cost, and rewarding DIY homebrew project.