Sustaining Temperature

Romanez · Mar 9, 2017

Hello,

I'm looking at brewing my very first batch this weekend.

The guide tells me

"Important note: Good temperature control is essential in ensuring optimum beer quality. Fermenting below 20 ÃÂ°C will result in prolonged fermentation and increased risk of infection. Fermenting above 24 ÃÂ°C will impair the quality of your beer."

This is probably a stupid (bear with me i'm new) question but other than turning the heating up is there any way of sustaining a good temperature?

I'm going to look for a thermometer to keep within the cupboard for me to check as well. Are there any suggestions?

Regards,

Spapro · Mar 9, 2017

Cheapest way is sitting your fermenting bucket in a builders trub with some water and an aquarium heater, do a bit of searching on here, lots of posts/threads.

Good luck with your first brew.

chub1 · Mar 9, 2017

Romanez said:
Hello,

I'm looking at brewing my very first batch this weekend.

The guide tells me

"Important note: Good temperature control is essential in ensuring optimum beer quality. Fermenting below 20 ÃÂ°C will result in prolonged fermentation and increased risk of infection. Fermenting above 24 ÃÂ°C will impair the quality of your beer."

This is probably a stupid (bear with me i'm new) question but other than turning the heating up is there any way of sustaining a good temperature?

I'm going to look for a thermometer to keep within the cupboard for me to check as well. Are there any suggestions?

Regards,

Don't panic Mr Mannering:mrgreen:
I have four on the go upstairs and they are sitting at 16/18c at present.i have also had beers go to 24c without any problems.
Not a problem IMHO,others may well say differently however.Obviously if you can keep a stable temp,then all the better.I have the stick on thermometers on my FV's,they are reasonably correct i think.
In the midwinter if it's really cold i wrap my FV's up to keep em snug:lol:.

chuffer · Mar 9, 2017

My only brew fridge is occupied by a lager at the moment so I can't do my usual temp control for a kit brew I've also got on the go. Solution - wrapped in a thermal blanket and set my household thermostat to 20 degrees day and night.

dan3d86 · Mar 9, 2017

I've spent a fair bit of time looking into this very thing this week, finally settled on the trub suggestion above with a aquarium heater & thermometer.

10 litres of water in there and play about with the temp until you're happy with it.

So far it's at a steady 20 degrees and it cost a measly Ã¯Â¿Â½Ã¯Â¿Â½Ã¯Â¿Â½ÃÂ£13 in total.

http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/attachment.php?attachmentid=8307&stc=1&d=1489075825

terrym · Mar 9, 2017

Romanez said:
Hello,

I'm looking at brewing my very first batch this weekend.

The guide tells me

"Important note: Good temperature control is essential in ensuring optimum beer quality. Fermenting below 20 ÃÂ°C will result in prolonged fermentation and increased risk of infection. Fermenting above 24 ÃÂ°C will impair the quality of your beer."

This is probably a stupid (bear with me i'm new) question but other than turning the heating up is there any way of sustaining a good temperature?

I'm going to look for a thermometer to keep within the cupboard for me to check as well. Are there any suggestions?

Regards,

Try this....
How to Set up a Water Bath for your FV - The HomeBrew Forum
Not sure about 'infections' if you ferment below 20*C. I ferment at 19*C, and I've never had any problems. I'm sure others do the same.
'Infections' are one of home brewing's paranoias, often talked about but actually extremely unlikely unless you don't take care to keep your kit clean and sanitised properly, you are always opening the lid of the FV to see how your brew is progressing, or you breed fruit flies.
And if you are brewing from a kit try this which may be of use
Basic beginners guide to brewing your own beer from a kit - The HomeBrew Forum

Clint · Mar 9, 2017

Hello
I've just had a stalled or stuck brew which may have been caused be low temps...possibly down to 16 or less at night. I put a heat tray under it monitored by an inkbird and slowly raised the temp to 22 until it started again. I did add a small amount of boiled dextrose you help it along. That was a couple of days ago and it's still bubbling.

Cheers

Clint

iamthefly · Mar 16, 2017

I'm getting hold of an old fridge for free from a mate. I bought a 'heat and cool thermostatic controller' and an aquarium heater from ebay totaling ÃÂ£14. Should be able to ferment/condition anything at any time of year in that.

DoctorMick · Mar 17, 2017

How would an aquarium heater work in a fridge? Aren't they designed to be submerged in water?

iamthefly · Mar 17, 2017

It's just a heat coil in a sealed container, as long as it's hot I'm happy. the thermostatic controller will shut it off once the fridge is at 18C. It's got a built in thermostat too which I'll set to 18C as a back up.

Will its container overheat and melt /fire before the air in the fridge reaches 18C if it hasn't got the water to conduct the heat away?

I hadn't considered that, but probably not. I'll do an open air test first. There are aether types of heater of it isn't suitable, but I thought it would handle condensation well.

It occurs to me that I might need a small hole to let The CO2 out. I wonder if it would push the door open otherwise?

I've heard of people doing the same thing with chest freezers.

Pawlo7671 · Mar 17, 2017

I have a water bath / aquarium heater hooked up to an inkbird temperature controller, I start the brew of at 21c until fermentation starts then drop it down slowly to 19c or 18c if its a lighter beer

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B003VZ8VH0/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/Home-Kit...e=UTF8&qid=1489784972&sr=8-5&keywords=inkbird

Chippy_Tea · Mar 17, 2017

It's just a heat coil in a sealed container, as long as it's hot I'm happy

I used to keep tropical fish many moons ago and am sure the heater needed to be submerged or partially submerged, things might have changed but i think using it the way you intend will not end well, i look forward to being proved wrong.

.

iamthefly · Mar 17, 2017

I hope it's OK. If you're trying to heat the water in the fish tank or I suppose it makes sense that it has to be submerged in the water.
They probably didn't consider heating air in a fridge. It will be a couple of weeks before I use it in action, if fact I don't think it will arrive for a week or two, but I should be able to test it pretty soon after.

Will report back.

There is always animal heat mats, IR lamps or trace heat cable.

JapanBrew · Mar 17, 2017

I just use a 60 watt light bulb in a tin with lots of holes drilled in it. Works. Real cheap.

WierdFish · Mar 17, 2017

Or a shed/greenhouse heater does the job perfectly. I wouldn't use an aquarium heater out of water. They are usually marked with a minimum water level mark. Not sure what will happen but I wouldn't want to be around an overheated glass tube if it goes pop.

Pawlo7671 · Mar 17, 2017

WierdFish said:
Or a shed/greenhouse heater does the job perfectly. I wouldn't use an aquarium heater out of water. They are usually marked with a minimum water level mark. Not sure what will happen but I wouldn't want to be around an overheated glass tube if it goes pop.

they're thermostatic so they just cut out. They are only designed for heating water tho, not air.

I wonder how many aquarium heaters get used for home brewing ?

MyQul · Mar 17, 2017

Pawlo7671 said:
t
I wonder how many aquarium heaters get used for home brewing ?

During winter, quite a lot, going by the threads I read on the forum as it's a really cheap and easy way to maintain appropriate fermentation temps during cold weather (fortunately I dont have this problem as the coldest my kitchen gets during winter is 16C, which is great to for pseudo lager fermentation)

iamthefly · Mar 19, 2017

A heater can overheat and blow the glass tube out Ã¢â¬â exposing the heater elements Ã¢â¬â which can become extremely hot, but these wires are designed to be fully submersed at all times, so chances of a fire starting underwater are not possible Ã¢â¬â I have never heard of it. Of course, if the heater were to fall out of the tank and land on the floor, then it is possible for the glass tube to explode and the heater element start a contacted flammable material on fire. This is not a defect in the heater Ã¢â¬â and it is very difficult for a heater to accidentally removed fromthe tank Ã¢â¬â especially if no-one was home.

http://tropicalfishaquarist.com/aquarium-safety-preventing-electrical-fire/

iamthefly · Mar 19, 2017

I think I might change it for an IR lamp

LarryF · Mar 19, 2017

MyQul said:
During winter, quite a lot, going by the threads I read on the forum as it's a really cheap and easy way to maintain appropriate fermentation temps during cold weather (fortunately I dont have this problem as the coldest my kitchen gets during winter is 16C, which is great to for pseudo lager fermentation)

My FV is in my kitchen and I love this time of year as between the central heating and us cooking my FV stays within 18-20c without any intervention from me. Means I just pitch the yeast, I can see the Krausen two days later through the lid and will only bother it to dry hop it nine days in.

Sustaining Temperature

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